Live Score
Cricket Teams
Cricket Players‘He is a find, we should take care of him’: Ex-IND star vouches for T20 star, hopes ‘he makes it to World Cup squad’
The Indian top-order misfired completely against Australia and in the absence of Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant, the middle-order too looked out of sorts.
Team India started the year on a comprehensive note, securing back-to-back series victory against Sri Lanka and New Zealand. However, the team was recently handed a reality check by Australia at home as they lost the three-match ODI series 2-1.
The Indian top-order misfired completely and in the absence of Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant, the middle-order too looked out of sorts. Iyer was initially a part of the series but was withdrawn from the squad due to a back injury. Pant, on the other hand, is still recovering from his horrific car crash, which took place a day before New Year.
Suryakumar Yadav, who has so far enjoyed an explosive outing in the shorter format, filled in for Iyer but failed to impress in any of the three encounters. Suryakumar was dismissed for a first-ball duck in all the matches, compounding India's concern in the World Cup year. His performances also saw many, especially on social media, slam his selection and urge BCCI to get Sanju Samson back in the mix.
However, ex-India cricketer Nikhil Chopra feels otherwise and hopes that Suryakumar makes it into the World Cup squad, which will be played in India later this year.
“What he (Suryakumar) has shown in the last year, scoring more than 1000 runs in T20s with strike-rate of over 180, I hope he makes it to the World Cup squad. When he starts to get runs sky is the limit. When he performs, he will win you games. He bats with a mindset of winning the matches so I just hope that he is a part of the XI and the Indian team persists with him,” the former cricketer told News18 CricketNext.
“The more he plays, the more he will gain experience and will win more games for the team. To me he is a find we should take care of him and persist with him," he added.
Also Read: CSK handed Ben Stokes blow days before opening IPL 2023 match against GT
Despite carving a niche in the T20 format, Suryakumar is yet to create a similar impact in the 50-over format. In the 21 innings he has played so far, Suryakumar has managed two half-centuries with his average being below 25.
With the World Cup approaching and Iyer and Pant's comeback looking uncertain for that, a lot will rely on Suryakumar to fill in the number four spot.
Samson too will hope for a splendid outing in the forthcoming edition of IPL to emerge as a frontrunner for the middle-order slot.
