India’s cricket team quickly bounced back from their tough loss in the 2023 World Cup final. They defeated Australia by two wickets in the first T20I game in Visakhapatnam.
The team tapped Suryakumar Yadav to lead for the five-match T20I series. Yadav stepped up, scoring an impressive 80 runs off 42 balls. Chasing a lofty goal of 209, India started slow at 22/2. But the 33-year-old stood out, leading his team to a successful win.
Because of the dangerous and unpredictable character of the format, batsmen with a lower average in T20Is are more prevalent than those with a higher average in ODIs or Tests. The latter violates cricket logic to such an extent that it is almost probably a mental trait above skill-based considerations.
Certain hitters are also inherently free-flowing, with taking chances virtually part of their DNA, making the T20 format simpler to adapt to than 50-over cricket.
Suryakumar Yadav happens to be among a unique group of batters. Despite playing in both white-ball formats, he excels in T20I but has just average ODI stats.
Let’s examine three batters, one of them being Suryakumar Yadav, who perform great in T20Is but have less impressive ODI records.
1. Suryakumar Yadav
Suryakumar Yadav has emerged as the world’s greatest mystery as a result of his conflicting performances in ODIs and T20Is.
With a terrible average of 25.76 in 37 outings, the 33-year-old has struggled in 50-over cricket. Although Suryakumar Yadav’s batting position has changed frequently in One-Day Internationals, his talent level and T20 proficiency had many anticipating him to shine in the lengthier white-ball format.
It seemed he had secured his position as the last-man batter for team India after scoring consistent half-centuries against Australia in the series before the World Cup. But sadly, the ace player’s World Cup performance did not match up, with an average of only 17.66 and no half-centuries from seven games.
In contrast, Suryakumar Yadav consistently thrills with his impressive T20I stats. An average close to 47 and a swift strike rate of 173.37 in 54 matches speak volumes. He belongs to the elite group of just six batters holding three or more T20I centuries.
Suryakumar Yadav batting in the top three or four for India might be a major factor for his significantly higher T20I performances. He also has much experience in the shorter format, having played 139 IPL games with great success.
The right-handed batsman is now named the world’s No. 1 T20I batter, 76 rating points ahead of second-placed Mohammad Rizwan.
2. Manish Pandey
Manish Pandey is another Indian batsman with tremendous T20I skills but average ODI achievements.
Pandey, unlike Suryakumar Yadav, had a stellar start to his ODI career. He made his debut against Zimbabwe in 2015, scoring 71 before going on to produce a match-winning 106* in his third batting session against Australia in a successful 331 chase at the SCG.
Despite this, the 34-year-old has only scored past 50 once in 21 innings since, dropping his career ODI average to 33.29 in 29 games. Pandey has been out of favor in the 50-over format since the middle of 2021 as a result.
However, in Twenty20 Internationals, the right-handed batsman averages a staggering 44.31 in 39 appearances. Unlike in ODIs, Pandey had a poor start to his T20I career, scoring more than 20 only once in his first five innings.
He averaged 74.75 in 13 T20Is in 2018 and an incredible 122 in seven games in 2020. As a result, it is perplexing why Pandey has not appeared in an Indian T20I since the end of 2020.
His declining strike rates of fewer than 130 in the IPL since 2020, and a strike rate of less than 20 in the 2022 and 2023 seasons, may have played a significant influence in the batter’s removal.
Nonetheless, Pandey is one of the rare batsmen who has better T20I statistics than ODI statistics.
3. Tim David
Tim David, a big-hitting Australian hitter, rose to prominence owing to his achievements in T20 cricket, particularly in the Big Bash League (BBL).
To his credit, the 27-year-old has lived up to that reputation, averaging 37.45 and striking at 162.52 in 29 T20Is.
After four years of just playing T20Is for Australia, David finally broke through and made his ODI debut against South Africa in the recent series before the World Cup. The Singapore-born hitter was projected to transfer seamlessly into the 50-over format, with a List A average of over 60 and a strike rate of 120.06.
However, David struggled to play the finisher position in the four One-Day Internationals (ODIs) against South Africa, averaging a dismal 11.25 with a strike rate of less than 85. It had three single-digit scores as Australia lost the series 2-3.
Despite his great T20I stats, Tim David may find it tough to gain another shot in the ODI team in an already strong Australian side that just won the ODI World Cup.
