Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar opined that Suryakumar Yadav has been batting cautiously since the match-winning half-century he scored against the USA in the Men in Blue’s first game in the ongoing T20 World Cup.
According to the cricketer-turned-commentator, this approach from Suryakumar and Tilak Varma, as well, is not allowing India to explore the full potential of hard hitters like Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, and Rinku Singh.
“There is something that I am seeing in Suryakumar Yadav which I’m not liking too much. 77-6, India against USA, at the Wankhede, and Suryakumar Yadav had to change his game, which he did brilliantly. Just slowed down a little bit, and then exploded, and got a great score, player of the match, and everything,” Manjrekar said on his Instagram page.
“Since then, I think he is taking that a bit too far. Against Pakistan, where India lost a couple of wickets, he really pulled down the shutters quite a lot. Him and Tilak Varma are both playing slightly conservatively, and in the end, what happens is that people like Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, and Rinku Singh, are not really tapped into resources as much,” he continued.
Suryakumar has a strike rate of 136.14 from the four matches he has played so far, while his career strike rate in T20Is is 163.70. Tilak, on the other hand, is striking at an abysmal 120.45. The southpaw has a career strike rate of 142.13.
Since Gautam Gambhir took charge as the head coach of the Indian team, he has encouraged the batters to go after the bowling without worrying about wickets. However, Suryakumar and Tilak’s conservative approach has confused some in the cricket fraternity.
India’s next game is on Sunday, February 22, against South Africa at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. This will be the first Super 8 game for the finalists of the previous edition of the T20 World Cup. The West Indies and Zimbabwe are the two other teams in their group.
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