Despite a struggling start to his ODI career, Suryakumar Yadav has received backing from head coach Rahul Dravid ahead of IND vs AUS ODIs starting from Friday. Meanwhile, to the surprise of many, Sanju Samson, whom Dravid mentored during their shared tenure with the Rajasthan Royals, couldn’t find a place in the squad despite having an average of over 50 in the format.
Ahead of the first IND vs AUS ODI in Mohali, Rahul Dravid expressed unwavering support for Yadav and confirmed that the batter will play both the ODIs to regain his form.
“I don’t think he needs to worry about the 27th; we’ve picked our team for the World Cup and Surya is in it,” Dravid said ahead of the first ODI against Australia in Mohali. “We’ve made that decision and we completely back him because he’s got a certain quality and ability that we’ve seen. Yes, we’ve seen those qualities at the moment in T20 cricket, but we know the kind of impact a player like him can make batting at six”, Dravid said in the press conference.
Suryakumar Yadav, who has been a revolution in T20Is, hasn’t been able to replicate the same success in the 50-over format. In the 27 matches, the 33-year-old has amassed 537 runs with an average of just 24.4. However, Dravid believes that SKY has the ability to change the course of the game.
“He can change the course of a game, so we’ve completely backed him. We’re very clear about that. There’s been total clarity on the fact that we’re completely behind him and we know hopefully he’ll be able to turn it around”, he added.
Resting Kohli & Rohit was mutual decision: Dravid
Dravid also revealed the reason behind resting the senior players including Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, for the first two games.
“With people like Virat and Rohit specifically, from our perspective, it’s really important that we get them to the first game of the World Cup physically and mentally in the space they want to be in,” Dravid explained.
“At this level, the amount of cricket that they’ve played, they know how they need to prepare themselves. A lot of these decisions are made in discussion with them in an effort to try and get… all our players, obviously not only the two of them, but certainly the senior and the more experienced guys kind of have their routines and know what they need to do to get into the first game in the right frame of mind“, the head coach added.
India squad for 1st & 2nd ODIs
KL Rahul (C & WK), Ravindra Jadeja (Vice-captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Shardul Thakur, Washington Sundar, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
For 3rd ODI: Rohit Sharma (C), Hardik Pandya (VC), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel (subject to fitness), Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj
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