The head coach of Team India acknowledged that Surya’s performances have fallen short of the mark he has set for himself in T20.
The first ODI season of Suryakumar Yadav has been brilliant. In the first six ODIs the Mumbai batsman has played for India, he has hammered two hundreds and four totals of thirty or more. He has amassed 261 runs, or 65 runs per game, in the six ODIs. He only managed to double his ODI run total in the following 19 games, scoring 215 runs instead of the 245 he needed. He only has thirty plus overall and hasn’t hit a single fifty in the time period.
The management of the squad should be concerned given that the ODI World Cup is rapidly approaching and that there are still questions around the injuries to KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer.
Rahul Dravid, the head coach of Team India, defended the 32-year-old by claiming that he is still learning about ODI cricket.
“Surya is an extremely good player, in my opinion. There is no question in my mind. His performances, particularly in T20 cricket and even in domestic cricket, have demonstrated this. Sadly, I believe he will be the first to admit that his ODI statistics have likely fallen short of the high standards he set for himself in the T20, but he is also picking up the nuances of ODI cricket, Dravid said reporters after India’s six-wicket loss to West Indies in the second ODI.
“He played a lot of competitive T20 cricket before he made his India debut and a lot of T20 cricket in the IPL.
“I believe that he is also gaining knowledge of his game and how to bat through those middle overs. He has skill, so we want to give him every chance we can. Now, it is really up to him to seize those possibilities and make use of them, but given the type of organisation we have, we try to offer people as many opportunities as we can,” he continued.
On Tuesday, the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad will host the third and final One-Day International of the series. Five T20 matches between the sides are also planned, beginning on Friday.
