Stretched away from his best format, Suryakumar Yadav had some forgettable moments against Australia. While Suryakumar Yadav did get to make his Test debut, he scored only 8 runs in the only innings he batted in in the 4-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.
Then came the ignominy of bagging 3 consecutive first-ball ducks in the ODI series which might just see him get dropped from the ODI squad for the series after the IPL 2023.
However, Suryakumar Yadav can still remain in India’s ODI plans with a blockbuster IPL 2023.
Although there is no doubt about his T20 prowess, performing well in Indian conditions could have a significant influence on the Indian selectors and the management who might want to try Suryakumar Yadav for another ODI series – especially if Shreyas Iyer is injured – as in the Australia series he got to face all of 3 balls in 3 ODIs, none of which he got onto his bat.
It feels as if the IPL 2023 tournament is awaiting for Suryakumar Yadav to make a comeback, and do it in his special style.
Here are 2 major reasons why Suryakumar Yadav could have a thunderous IPL 2023 season:
Suryakumar Yadav is the best T20 batsman in the world
Yes, he didn’t have a good time with the bat in the Tests and ODI vs Australia, but, to not forget, just before that he was rocking the T20 format – scoring a belligerent hundred vs Sri Lanka and playing an array-defining, match-winning knock of 26*(31) on a turning track in a low-scoring thriller against New Zealand.
So while he was on the low extreme in the two longer formats, Suryakumar Yadav, since 2018, has been on the high extreme of the T20 format and seems to have taken his T20 game to even a higher level since making his India debut.
Suryakumar Yadav is, after all, the number 1 ranked ICC T20I batter – and so much more deservedly than the few who’d held this position before him – and unarguably the best T20 batter going around in the world.
So, his potential success in the IPL 2023 for Mumbai Indians, whom he carried on his shoulders last season amid batting failures from the top order, won’t be a surprise at all. In fact, that might just embolden the selectors and the management to further give him chances in the ODI side.
Mumbai Indians will be back playing at the batting-friendly Wankhede
Since the IPL returns to its traditional home-and-away format for the first time since 2019, Mumbai Indians will be playing their 7 home league games at the Wankhede.
The Wankhede stadium has been one of the most, if not the most, batting-friendly stadiums in the IPL history, and is also known as a batsman’s paradise. Apart from the help the pacers get bowling first because of the little grass, the Wankhede surface generally assists the batters the most.
Suryakumar Yadav has a thunderous record at this venue: in 19 innings in the IPL at the Wankhede, Suryakumar Yadav has scored 506 runs at a strike rate of 135 with 3 fifties to his name.
