Suryakumar Yadav has been India's top performer in T20Is but he is yet to prove his mettle in the ODI format. While Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul are recovering from their injuries at National Cricket Academy (NCA), Bengaluru, Suryakumar made it to India’s ODI playing XI for the first ODI of the series against West Indies. Chasing a small target, Suryakumar played one sweep shot too many and got out lbw. The explosive batter wasted the opportunity to finish the match but former Indian left-arm pacer feels that he deserves more game time and can play as India’s no.4 for the upcoming ODI World Cup 2023.
“Suryakumar Yadav is a good option for No 4, along with Shreyas (Iyer), provided he is fit. But if you are looking at him even as a backup option, it is important to give him game-time and he is certainly a good pick," said RP Singh during an interaction organised by Jio Cinema.
“Suryakumar is yet to make his mark in one-day cricket but the way he is batting, and the kind of batter that he is, he can be a good option for No 4 or 5.”
“You must always have backup options heading into major tournaments. His current form in T20 cricket has been very good, one-day format is different because you have (to face) more number of balls. Due to that, he will have to change his game-plan a bit.”
The 37-year-old who played a huge role in India's T20 World Cup 2007 win feels that the Rohit Sharma-led side does not have too many options at this position in the One-Day format.
“He is an experienced player, it is about that one click — how many games he takes to make one big score. Once that happens, he will not face any such issues. Anyway, how many options does the team even have for No 4?,” he said.
So far, Suryakumar has scored 452 runs from 22 ODI innings at an average of 23.78 including two half-centuries. The 32-year-old has good starts but has not been able to convert them into big scores.
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