Cricket is a great leveller. Suryakumar Yadav is learning it the hard way. After never-before-seen highs of T20Is, his world has plummeted to new lows in ODIs. Otherwise, how would you explain the No.1-ranked T20I batter registering an unwanted world record of becoming the first cricketer to bag a hat-trick of first-ball ducks in ODIs? India's best T20I batter in the last two years lasted only three balls in the entire three-match ODI series against Australia and did not put bat to ball even once. He was out LBW in identical fashions in the first two ODIs to Mitchell Starc. In the series decider in Chennai, he was clean bowled by left-arm spinner Ashton Agar.
Suryakumar has featured in 23 ODIs after his debut in July 2021, scoring 433 runs at a below-par average of 24.05. Ahead of the third ODI, head coach Rahul Dravid was asked about Surya's struggles in replicating his T20I form in ODIs. The former India captain said the team management is ready to give time to the 32-year-old in the 50-over format.
SKY was retained in the XI for the third match just as Dravid indicated but he did not bat at No.4 as he had done in the first two matches. Instead, SKY was demoted to No.7, a move which surprised many and drew flack from former India cricketers like Ajay Jadeja and Aakash Chopra.
India promoted KL Rahul at No.4 followed by Axar Patel and Hardik Pandya at No.5 and No.6 respectively. After India failed to chase down the 270-run target and lost the decider by 21 runs, captain Rohit said Suryakumar was initially slotted to bat at number 5 but the team management held him back to face the Australian attack in the last 15-20 overs. Suryakumar actually came out at number 7.
{{/usCountry}}India promoted KL Rahul at No.4 followed by Axar Patel and Hardik Pandya at No.5 and No.6 respectively. After India failed to chase down the 270-run target and lost the decider by 21 runs, captain Rohit said Suryakumar was initially slotted to bat at number 5 but the team management held him back to face the Australian attack in the last 15-20 overs. Suryakumar actually came out at number 7.
{{/usCountry}}"He plays spin really well which is why we wanted to hold him back and give him the last 15-20 overs where he could play his game. But it’s really unfortunate he could only play three balls in the series. That can happen to anyone. The potential, the quality, is always there. He is just going through that (lean) phase right now.
"Once we played the first 10 overs, the ball did not swing at all. There was no question of the swing where Surya could be troubled or anything like that. It was a tactical move. We wanted to use his potential at the back end along with Hardik. These two players would have been ideal for us but unfortunately, they got out."
Rohit also explained why Axar Patel came out to bat at number 5 ahead of Suryakumar.
"When KL (Rahul) and Virat (Kohli) were batting, they (Australia) were operating a leggie and a left-arm spinner. Surya was actually slotted to go in at five. But we thought the ball was taking some turn, and we didn't want our right-handers to get stuck, which is why we wanted a left-hander (Axar).
"Axar, being in the form that he is, we wanted to ask him to go in and bat the way he does and take the spinners on. That is why we pushed him up the order. Hardik is obviously the best player at No. 6. We wanted to keep him there and then see between Surya and Jadeja, who we can ask to go before."
The ploy of sending Axar at number 5, however, did not work. Axar was run out for two in a mix-up with Kohli.
Kohli (54) and Rahul (32) added 69 runs for the third wicket to take India on course of overhauling the target of 270. But quick wickets on two occasions put paid to India's hopes.
"KL and Kohli were trying to stitch a partnership. When you see some kind of help from the pitch (to opposition bowlers), you've got to understand that you cannot play shots every ball, you have to respect the conditions as well. They were doing that in the middle," Rohit said.
"Having said that, one of those guys should have batted longer and things could have been very different. The wickets of Kohli and Surya in the span of two balls put us back in the game, we were very much on the course of getting the target up until then."