Which player from India’s starting lineup versus Australia at the World Cup-Suryakumar or Shreyas? Suryakumar is Dravid’s X-factor, according to Ravi Shastri.
Suryakumar Yadav, a middle-order batsman, is a member of the Men in Blue’s final squad, according to Indian head coach Rahul Dravid, who made this clarification before India began its last ICC World Cup warm-up match against Australia in Mohali. Suryakumar addressed his detractors by playing a magnificent 50-run performance against Australia in the first One Day International (ODI) at Mohali, making sure that his bat does all the talking.
In the same game, a misfortunate run-out prevented Shreyas Iyer from scoring significantly. However, the top batsman improved his chances of being picked with a scorching century against Australia in the second One-Day International as the Virat Kohli-less Team India won the last series (2-1) prior to the World Cup. In the previous game, the No. 6 batsman Suryakumar too had a fun time as he hammered 72 off just 37 balls against Australia. Suryakmar’s hitting frenzy helped India reach a mammoth 399-5 in the 50-over match at Indore.
Suryakumar has been recognized as “India’s X-factor”
In response to the abundance of players India possesses, former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri stated he will be keeping a watch on Suryakumar, who he sees as India’s X-factor at the ICC event.
“I’ll be watching him closely, very very closely. Because if your top order is firing, so you have 6-7-8 players, you will play him or Shreyas Iyer at this moment. But if all the batters are getting runs then that guy becomes the X factor in a big game, he can win you a game. Because at 6-7-8, the damage he can do with Hardik, they can just take the game away from the opposition in the last 6-7 overs. So that X factor you gotta think of, I can imagine that your batting is struggling but it’s not the case,”
Ravi Shastri
Suryakumar had trouble cracking India’s starting XI for the Asia Cup, while middle-order batsman Iyer only made one appearance (against Pakistan) because of back problems. Later, Iyer cemented his dominance in the Australia series by leading India to a series-winning century. Iyer had a 52.00 batting average in the ODIs against Australia, scoring 156 runs. In the same series, Suryakumar, who bats at the top of the Indian middle order, found his form again by scoring 130 runs in 3 ODIs.
‘He will always be in my 12’
“And in Indian conditions, very rarely it will struggle. You know you expect 1-2-3-4 – one hundred. He will always be in my 12. You have to see the conditions. A real flat track – I would think of Surya. Because you expect the other 3-4 to get runs. If it’s (conditions are) tough, tricky, or seaming then maybe you don’t know. You have 5 proper batters, all five similar, instead of that have one X-factor – could be a left-hander, could be a Surya,” Shastri added.
Ravi Shastri