SKY IS NOT CLEAR

India captain Rohit hints management is not looking into Suryakumar’s failures much

CHENNAI: Suryakumar Yadav, considered one of the best players in the T20 format, registered three successive golden ducks in the recent home ODI series against Australia, but India captain Rohit Sharma hinted that the team management is not looking much into the middle-order batter’s failures.

Suryakumar was trapped leg before wicket by Australia left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc in the first two ODIs in Mumbai and Visakhapatnam. The think-tank backed him and included him in the playing eleven for the series decider in Chennai on Wednesday, but the flamboyant batter was again dismissed first ball, this time by left-arm spinner Ashton Agar.

“He (Suryakumar) played only three balls in the series. I do not know how much you can look into it. He got three good balls,” Rohit said after India lost the third ODI by 21 runs to concede the series 1-2 to Australia. “But, I did not think it was that great a ball (the delivery from Agar). He just chose the wrong shot. He should have, maybe, come forward. He knows best,” added Rohit.

Suryakumar, who has scored 433 runs in 21 innings since making his ODI debut in 2021, was “held back” and walked out at No.7 during India’s 270run chase in the final ODI.

“He plays spin really well, which is why we wanted to give him the last 15-20 overs, where he could play his [natural] game. But, it is really unfortunate that he could only play three balls in the series. That can happen to anyone. The potential, the quality, is always there. He is just going through that [lean] phase right now,” said Rohit.

“Once we played the first 10 overs, the ball did not swing at all. There was no question of swing, where Surya could be troubled or anything like that. It was a tactical move. We wanted to use his potential at the back end along with Hardik [Pandya’s]. These

It is really unfortunate that he could only play three balls in the series. That can happen to anyone. He is just going through that [lean] phase right now Rohit Sharma on Suryakumar Yadav

two players would have been ideal for us, but unfortunately they got out,” Rohit went on to add.

Why Axar walked out at No.5?

Rohit also explained why all-rounder Axar Patel came out to bat at No.5. The move eventually backfired as Axar was dismissed via a run-out for just two runs off four balls.

“When KL [Rahul] and Virat [Kohli] were batting, it (Australia) was operating with a leggie (Adam Zampa) and a left-arm spinner (Agar). Surya was [initially] slotted to go in at [number] five. But, we thought that the ball was taking some turn and we did not want our right-handers to get stuck, which is why we wanted a left-hander (Axar). Axar, being in the form that he is in, we wanted to ask him to go in, bat the way he does and take on the spinners.”