India tick final boxes ahead of World Cup with Suryakumar, Iyer show vs Australia; spark fresh selection headache

The management may not have wanted a selection headache so close to the World Cup, but they surely wanted all their players be in form for the long tournament.

"I’d been wondering what has been happening for me in this format. The colour of the ball is the same, the teams and the bowlers are the same." Suryakumar Yadav has never shied away from admitting his shortcomings in ODI cricket, even as reporters or broadcasters peppered him with questions comparing his dissimilar form in the two white-ball formats. But there is always a touch of confidence, reflected in his smile, as he acknowledges it and confesses that he has been working towards it tirelessly hoping to find the answer. It is probably one of the reason by captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid has backed him to the hilt, even amid the criticism. But Project Suryakumar has finally bore fruit.

Shreyas Iyer scored a century while Suryakumar Yadav smashed his second straight fifty

The idea was always to reap the benefit of his extraordinary talent in T20 cricket. He has consistently shone in the shortest format for Mumbai Indians in IPL over the last few years and later carried the form to international level which saw him being rewarded with the No.1 ranking spot in ICC Men's T20I batting chart.

Suryakumar, who hade made an impressive start to his ODI career with 261 runs in first six innings at 65.25 with two fifties, initially served as a back-up No. 4 option in the ODI set-up as India looked to build towards their World Cup plan, but the project only came to life when Shreyas Iyer got injured. However, the 33-year-old struggled to emulate his T20 performance in the 50-over format he he stumbled to three-consecutive ducks, in the Australia series in March, in his stretch of 10 innings where he managed just 153 runs. His highest was score of 35 while he registered four-single digit scores, without a fifty.

Even as veterans and experts, who trusted his white-ball abilities, backed him through the stretch for a place in the World Cup XI, let alone the squad, but the star player slowly began to fall out of reckoning with few looking forward to the return of injured Iyer back to the scheme of things. But Rohit and Dravid did not put off their project. In Suryakumar they trusted, and Suryakumar did repay their faith.

In what was his final chance to push his case for a place in the XI even after making the 15-member squad, Suryakumar, batting at No. 6 for India, who were without Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya for the first two matches against Australia, scored a brilliant 50 in the opening tie in Mohali last Friday, smashing five boundaries and a six, in India's 277 chase. Walking in during the 33rd over, Suryakumar brought his T20 acumen to play, one that the team management have been wanting him to bring to fore. "I got a lot of learnings from my team management. They said, 'you just have stretch your innings, take a little bit more time, try and bat a little more deep and see what happens'," he said on Sunday before the start of the 2nd ODI.

If Friday's show was a glimpse into his ODI abilities as a finisher, Indore witnessed the real show. He scripted a rampaging knock of an unbeaten 72 off 37, laced with six boundaries and as many maximums, four of which came in a consecutive row against his IPL teammate Cameron Green. It was the SKY fans earned to see in ODI cricket all throughout 2023 and it was the SKY that they witnessed, in full glory, just a fortnight away from the start of India's World Cup campaign.

But Suryakumar wasn't the only box India ticked on Sunday. The player with whom he was in competition in the early part of India's World Cup preparation, also allowed the team management to heave a huge sigh of relief as Iyer, who has has been troubled by back issue during 2023, amid rising talks about experts wanting both Ishan Kishan and Rahul in the World Cup XI, finally shut all the talk with his first century in 11 months.

Iyer, whom Dravid claimed was among the certainty for the World Cup 18 months back, was down with a lower back stress since March this year, following which he underwent a surgery as well and shifted base to the NCA in Bengaluru to recover. He later proved his match fitness through practice games and match simulations to make the Asia Cup squad and the World Cup team, but was troubled by a back injury yet again during the continental event in Sri Lanka earlier in September. He missed the entire Super Four stage and the final, sparking calls over his place in the World Cup side, with most claiming that it has subsequently settled the debate between Ishan and Rahul. But with his third career century on Sunday against Australia, Iyer made the statement that he is India's No. 4 for the World Cup.

A fresh selection headache for India

The management may not have wanted a selection headache so close to the World Cup, but it is surely something they have long desired, of wanting every player in their 15-member squad to be in form and raring to go for the long tournament ahead.

With just one match left in the series, where Kohli and Rohit will be back, India are most likely to feature their original XI for the Rajkot tie against Australia and the team will subsequently answer the debate pertaining to the middle-order line-up between Iyer, Ishan, Rahul and Suryakumar. Not to forget, India will also play two World Cup warm-up games before beginning their campaign on October 5.