Former India head coach Ravi Shastri is of the opinion that Suryakumar Yadav may play a crucial role for the team led by Rohit Sharma in the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, which is just a few days away. India’s first match in the tournament is scheduled against Australia on October 8th in Chennai.
Shastri expressed his intention to closely monitor Suryakumar’s performance, emphasizing that he sees him as the X-factor capable of securing victories.
“I’ll be watching him closely, very very closely. Because if your top order is firing, so you have 6-7-8 players, you will play him or Shreyas Iyer at this moment. But if all the batters are getting runs then that guy becomes the X factor in a big game, he can win you a game. Because at 6-7-8, the damage he can do with Hardik, they can just take the game away from the opposition in the last 6-7 overs. So that X factor you gotta think of, I can imagine that your batting is struggling but it’s not the case,” Shastri told ESPNCricinfo.
Shastri further added that he believes Suryakumar will have a significant role to play in India’s middle-order during the tournament. Suryakumar Yadav secured his place in the playing XI for the Asia Cup 2023 when Shreyas Iyer had to step aside due to back problems. However, Iyer made a successful return during the home ODI series against Australia, where he scored a century in the second match, contributing 156 runs at an impressive average of 52.00 in the Australia ODIs. In contrast, Suryakumar Yadav scored a total of 130 runs in three games during that series.
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“And in Indian conditions, very rarely it will struggle. You know you expect 1-2-3-4 – one hundred. He will always be in my 12. You have to see the conditions. A real flat track – I would think of Surya. Because you expect the other 3-4 to get runs. If it’s (conditions are) tough, tricky, or seaming then maybe you don’t know. You have 5 proper batters, all five similar, instead of that having one X-factor – could be a left-hander, could be a Surya,” the 61-year-old added.
