‘Before you blink, he is back on his way to the dugout’ – Michael Vaughan slams under-fire Suryakumar Yadav

Michael Vaughan slams under-fire Suryakumar Yadav. (Source – BCCI)

Indian T20I skipper, Suryakumar Yadav, encountered another low score during the ongoing five-match T20I series against England. He was dismissed for a seven-ball 14 in the third T20I in Rajkot, with his side falling short by 26 runs at the end. The loss was India’s first in the series.

Former English cricketer, Michael Vaughan, elaborated on what it truly means to be “aggressive” with the bat in the 20-over format, stating that it is critical to pick the right balls and moments to attack instead of trying to send every ball out of the park. He also reckoned that the Indian T20I skipper has not been contributing much in the recent past.

“When you say be aggressive all the time, it is choosing the right ball to be aggressive to. Clearly, you cannot hit every single ball to the boundary. For India to be the team they are, they are the world champions for a reason, they need their best players in form,”  said Vaughan during an interaction on Cricbuzz Live.

“The only way the players get into good form is by spending time in the middle. At the minute, Suryakumar Yadav is going out there, hitting a few good shots, and before you blink, he is back on his way to the dugout, without making too much of a contribution,” he added.

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You’re not chasing 210-220, the target was a reasonable one: Vaughan

The cricketer-turned-commentator felt the match situation demanded a different approach from the dynamic batter.

“If there was ever a time for him to just step back and go from fifth gear to third gear, just to give himself a chance to get in, it was probably now. You’re not chasing 210-220, the target was a reasonable one, just to play sensibly and chase it down,” added Vaughan.

India failed to chase down the 172-run target, as they could manage only 145/9 after 20 overs. Hardik Pandya top-scored for the hosts with a 35-ball 40-run knock. Only Abhishek Sharma got past the 20-run mark.

As for England, they managed to pull things back with the bat after a middle-order collapse left them in a dire state. After managing to put up 171 on the board, the bowling unit put in a collective showing to make India fall short of the target.