Suryakumar Yadav's return to form just in time for the T20 World Cup bodes well for India. Suryakumar, the No. 1-ranked T20I batter in the world, smashed the second century of his IPL career in Mumbai Indians' seven-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad on Monday. It was the sixth T20 century of Surya's career, next only to Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who have nine and eight tons respectively. However, come the T20 World Cup, Surya will bat at No. 4, a position below his usual No. 3 spot with the Mumbai Indians, and whether it makes a difference to his form remains to be seen.
To ensure all is well with India and Surya, Brian Lara has suggested the dynamic batter bats at 3, pushing Virat Kohli down to 4. Lara's advice may not go down too well with the onlookers, but his confidence in the move stems from the belief that your best T20 batter should receive maximum game time.
"My one advice, and I don't know if you're going to like it or not, but SKY has to bat at three. He just has to bat at three. He is one of the greatest T20 players in the game. And you speak to players like Sir Viv, and he will tell you he used to want to get out there in the middle," Lara said in an interaction with PTI editors at its headquarters, facilitated by Star Sports.
"And I feel that that's the same thing with SKY. So, get in on it as quickly as possible. He's not an opener, get him out there and if he can bat for 10-15 overs, you know what's going to happen. He's going to put you in an unassailable position if you bat him first, or he's going to win the game if he's batting second. And then let everybody sort of position themselves outside of that, but a good structure is important. Just find a way to make Suryakumar bat at three."
Why Suryakumar Yadav above Virat Kohli at No. 3? Lara explains
{{/usCountry}}"And I feel that that's the same thing with SKY. So, get in on it as quickly as possible. He's not an opener, get him out there and if he can bat for 10-15 overs, you know what's going to happen. He's going to put you in an unassailable position if you bat him first, or he's going to win the game if he's batting second. And then let everybody sort of position themselves outside of that, but a good structure is important. Just find a way to make Suryakumar bat at three."
Why Suryakumar Yadav above Virat Kohli at No. 3? Lara explains
{{/usCountry}}Suryakumar has mostly batted at No. 4 for India, scoring 1402 runs from 35 innings at an average of 50, including three centuries. However, once Kohli decided to opt out of T20Is for a year after the 2022 T20 World Cup, Surya was promoted to No. 3 and hasn't done too poorly. With 479 runs from 14 innings, Suryakumar has peeled off one century and four fifties, averaging a shade below 40. With Kohli back in the mix, at set to stick to his designated No. 3 position, SKY will be back at No. 4, but Lara, in an interview with Hindustan Times, again reiterated the importance of having SKY bat at 3 come what may, while meaning no disrespect to Kohli.
"Kohli's position should be No.4. Suryakumar Yadav is the star player and should be given the chance to bat at No.3 and win games for his team. Because in T20s, Nos.1, 2 and 3 are the main men. They are the ones with the most number of balls to put your team into a winning position. You want to get your best players in those positions as prominently as possible," Lara said.
"You want to have a left-right combination opening in T20s (Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma). The way I have seen Virat play recently, his strike rate is up there. But when you have someone who can totally take a bowling attack apart and demoralise them, you want to give that person the maximum opportunity. Back in the day, would you bat Viv Richards at No.5 or at No.3? So, I am not going to get into the argument of saying I don't see Kohli in (the side). I just think Suryakumar is a batter who can win you a game on his own. That's all I am going to say."