As India prepares for the series-deciding ODI in Chennai, concerns and discussions about T20I standout Suryakumar Yadav’s form have taken center stage. While Yadav has established himself in the shortest international format, he is yet to make his bat speak in ODIs. Mumbai batsman’s poor run in the 50-over format was exacerbated by two golden ducks against Australia’s searing Mitchell Starc in the first two ODIs.
Despite Yadav’s poor performance in ODIs, head coach Rahul Dravid is confident in the middle-order star’s potential. Dravid believes the 32-year-old is still learning the ODI format, noting that the batter’s exposure to the 50-over format has been significantly less than that of the shortest international format. Interestingly, Yadav, who replaces the injured Shreyas Iyer at number four, has played only 22 ODIs as comparison to 48 T20Is.
The head coach further stated that the middle-order hitter has not had many opportunities to compete in high-pressure ODI tournaments at the domestic level (except Vijay Hazare Trophy). While he has appeared frequently in T20 cricket, including the high-pressure IPLs. Dravid’s endorsement comes just a day after skipper Rohit Sharma stated that potential players would not be denied longer ropes under him.
Suryakumar Yadav, unlike in ODIs, has played a lot of high-pressure T20 games, according to Dravid.
“I’m not too bothered about Surya. He got two excellent balls. Surya is learning the 50-overs game, which is one of his strengths. The T20 is a bit different. “In T20, he has played 10 years of IPL,” Dravid told reporters in Chennai.
“He (Surya) has a lot of T20 experience. He has a lot of experience playing high-pressure T20 games. Apart from the Vijay Hazare Trophy, there aren’t many high-pressure events for ODIs at the local level, similar to the IPL for T20 cricket. Despite having played a lot of t20 cricket, I believe he hasn’t played much one-day cricket. We must be patient with him and give him some time. We absolutely see the potential for him to succeed,” Dravid remarked.
