Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar reckons Suryakumar Yadav hasn’t done anything significant in ODI cricket and he will have to wait for his opportunity in the final XI of the World Cup. SKY has been backed in the World Cup squad despite his low returns in the ODI format.
The right-hander is known to turn the match on its head with his blistering batting in the T20I format and he has been given a vote of confidence by the selectors and the team management.
The Mumbai batter scored 50 runs off just 49 balls in the opening ODI against Australia. Subsequently, he added the finishing touches with a whirlwind knock of 37-ball 72 in the second ODI at Indore to help India post 399 runs on the board.
However, Sunil Gavaskar feels Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, and Hardik Pandya will be preferred ahead of Suryakumar Yadav in the middle order.
“Suryakumar hasn’t done anything big yet in ODI cricket. He only bats in those final 15-20 overs where he utilizes his T20 abilities which undoubtedly is important as well. But Hardik, Ishan, and Rahul can all do that same job as well. So Iyer is confirmed for No. 4. Suryakumar will have to wait and if he does get a chance at No. 4 he has to score a big hundred and show that he can also score a ton as well,” said Gavaskar on Star Sports.
On the other hand, Ravichandran Ashwin replaced injured Axar Patel in India’s final World Cup squad. Patel has been ruled out with a quadriceps injury whereas Ashwin bagged four wickets in two ODIs against Australia.
“Axar Patel has failed to recover in time for the World Cup after sustaining a left quadriceps strain during India’s Asia Cup Super Four encounter against Bangladesh. The spin-bowling all-rounder missed the final of the Asia Cup as a result,” BCCI stated in a media release.
“Veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has been named his replacement, who was impressive on his return to ODI cricket in the recently concluded series against Australia where he picked up four wickets in two games,” the release further stated.
India’s Cricket World Cup squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav.
