Indian head coach Rahul Dravid admitted that Suryakumar Yadav hasn’t performed to his potential in the 50-over format of the game following his string of poor performances for India in the ODI format and wants to give him enough opportunity before taking a call on his spot in the team.
The Mumbaikar was handed the spot in the ODI format of the game after his impressive performance in T20Is. However, he failed to utilize the opportunity to perform for the team. Indian team’s No.4 position has opened up for many contenders after Shreyas Iyer’s injury, Indian management tried to play Suryakumar Yadav which didn’t go according to plan for the Men in Blue.
Speaking to the media after India’s six-wicket loss against West Indies, Rahul Dravid said that they are no doubt about the ability of the World N0.1 T20 batters, as he performed exceedingly well in the T20 format of the game, admitting that he hasn’t shown the prowess in ODI cricket and reckons that he hasn’t played much ODI cricket before coming into the Indian setup, which probably would have made it tough for him.
“I think Surya is a really good player. There is no doubt about it. His performances have shown that especially in T20 cricket and even in domestic cricket.
“Unfortunately, I think he will be the first one to address that his ODI numbers have probably not been up to the high standards that he has set in the T20, but he is also learning about ODI cricket.
“He has played a lot of T20 cricket through the IPL and played a lot of competitive T20 cricket before he made his debut for India. In terms of one-day cricket, he has probably not played that much competitive cricket. You know because there is no IPL in one-day cricket,” Rahul Dravid said.
The number one T20I batter in the world failed to capitalize on the opportunity provided to him in the ODI format. Suryakumar Yadav has scored only 2 half-centuries in the 25 matches, he has played so far in ODIs with a poor average of 23.8.
We Like To Give People As Many Chances As We Possibly Can – Rahul Dravid
Rahul Dravid feels that it is more about Suryakumar Yadav learning to bat in the middle overs and revealed that the team management wants to allow him to perform at the highest level and said that it is upto to him to take up the chance to do well for India.
“I think he is also learning about his game, learning how to bat through those middle overs. He is a talent and we want to give him as many opportunities as he can. It is really up to him now to take those opportunities and use those but in the kind of setup we are, we like to give people as many chances as we possibly can,” Rahul Dravid added.
The 360-degree once failed to capitalize the opportunity in the 2nd ODI, as he could not go on to score big runs after being set in the middle and the Mumbai-batter would look to turn things around in the deciding and final ODI of the three-match series.