Suryakumar Yadav has been a phenomenon in T20I cricket but his ODI numbers have looked far from impressive. Batting at no.4 in the absence of an injured Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar has registered two golden ducks in a row in the three-ODI series against Australia. The most surprising thing is the mode of his dismissals in both ODIs.
Left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc outsmarted Suryakumar with the same delivery. Bowling over the wicket, he swung the ball into the right-handed batter. Suryakumar could not defend and played down the wrong line on both occasions. He got trapped in front of the wickets and umpire did not hesitate to raise his finger.
Before the series, Suryakumar's ODI numbers were ordinary but he had not got out without opening his account. Now, he has two golden ducks.
The 32-year-old earned his ODI debut on the basis of his T20I talent. In his second ODI, he scored his maiden half-century against Sri Lanka. Against West Indies, he scored a half-century in February 2022. Since then, he has failed to convert starts into half-centuries. Also, the single-digit scores have increased. In 2023, he has scored just 49 runs from five games.
The 32-year-old has not been a regular in the ODI playing XI. Iyer has proved his mettle in the middle-order but his injury made way for Suryakumar. Also, Rishabh Pant is likely to remain out of action for most of year after getting involved in a horrific incident on December 30, 2022 morning.
Starc was on fire with the new ball. He dismissed Shubman Gill for a two-ball duck in the first over. He got Rohit and Suryakumar's wicket off consecutive deliveries in the fifth over. He troubled Rahul as well with an in-swinger to trap him in front of the wickets.
The 33-year-old bowled a fiery opening spell in the first ODI at Wankhede Stadium as well. He took the wickets of Gill, Virat Kohli and Suryakumar. His spell helped the visitors reduce India for 4/39 in the run chase of 189.
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