India’s middle-order batter Suryakumar Yadav has been in some tremendous form off-lately. The world’s No. 1-ranked T20I batter and the leading T20I run-getter of the year has set the stage on fire with his back-to-back batting performances. In 2022 alone, SKY has notched up two blistering centuries along with several match-winning knocks. Apart from this, he was also the second-highest run-getter in the T20 World Cup.
Surya carried on his blazing form from Australia to New Zealand, where he smashed 111 not out off 51 balls to give India a crushing victory of the hosts. While he was brilliant in the T20I series, he couldn’t get going in the ODI format. He could only manage to score 4, 34 not out, and 6 in the 3 ODIs.
Meanwhile, former Indian coach Ravi Shastri made an interesting point. Shastri pointed out that while there is nothing to worry about SKY’s approach in ODIs but there are a couple of things the batter might want to approve. Speaking exclusively on Prime Video, Ravi Shastri said:
“That can happen. But what he can learn is that this is two-and-a-half time the size of a T20 game. He has got that many more balls to play. He can wait that bit longer. His USP is total devastation towards the end of the innings. He has got ample time to reach 30-40 before that with a lot more number of balls. So, in his case, it’s about giving himself that extra bit of time. That impact quality that is needed can wait a little bit because this game is a little bit longer. And then the conditions. At times, you might be in the best form of your life but you have got to respect the condition. This is a great game. It doesn’t wait for anyone. You don’t respect the conditions, sooner or later, you will come back to respect it,”
Notably, SKY has played a lot more T20 games than 50-overs – only 16 games as compared to 42. Hence, it is understandable that he will get better with time. However, with ODI World Cup 2023 just around the corner, SKY is expected to play a major role as team India’s designated No.4 batter.
SKY has been rested for the upcoming ODI series against Bangladesh, starting December 4 and former head coach Ravi Shastri feels that during this time off, SKY will carefully study his ODI game and make the necessary changes in his game. He said:
“It’s nothing major. It’s just a change in the mindset of the length of the game and the number of deliveries he has got to play. When you play in the sub-continent, normally if he goes to bat, he will be doing it at No. 5 when the score would be nice and high more often than not. And then he can make an impact straightaway. In conditions that suit his batting, the bowlers don’t have much on offer so you can change it. But here, adjustment needs to be made. And he would learn from it. He is a smart cricketer. We have seen that with the way he improvises so this is not difficult for him,”
