India’s head coach Rahul Dravid has said Suryakumar Yadav is learning the 50-over game. SKY has taken the world by storm in the T20I format but he hasn’t been able to grace the 50-overs version yet. The right-hander has come under scrutiny after he was dismissed for golden ducks in the first two ODIs against Australia.
On both occasions, Yadav fell prey to Mitchell Starc, who got the ball to move back into the right-hander and plumbed him in front of the wickets. Suryakumar Yadav has failed to grab his opportunities in the ODI format as he has scored only 433 runs in 22 ODI matches at an average of 25.47.
Sharing his views on Suryakumar’s ODI struggles, Dravid said at a press conference on Tuesday, March 21: “Obviously, it’s unfortunate for Shreyas (Iyer) to get injured – he’s one of those guys we think will bat for us at No.4 and he has been given a lot of time in that position. Not really concerned so much about Suryakumar. He got two first-ballers against two pretty good balls.
“One of the things about Surya is he is also learning the 50-over game a little bit. The T20 game is slightly different.”
Dravid feels SKY hasn’t played a lot of 50-overs format but he has more experience of playing T20I cricket. The head coach wants everyone to be a bit patient with SKY.
“Even though he hadn’t played for India for a long time, in T20 cricket, he played nearly ten years of IPL, which is a tournament which is like international cricket. He has played a lot of high-pressure T20 games but in one-day cricket, there’s no equivalent tournament in domestic cricket, you’ll have to play Vijay Hazare [Trophy] and all that.
“We just need to give him some time and be patient with him. We certainly see the upside of him doing well, which is very good for the side.”
SKY will look to turn the tables in the third ODI against Australia if he gets his chance in the final XI. The 32-year-old from Mumbai has all the skills under his belt and he has showcased them in the T20 format.
The third ODI will be played in Chennai on Wednesday.
