Former India player Saba Karim thinks that Team India’s Suryakumar Yadav should be made the stable No.4 batter in ODIs.
He believed that Suryakumar should have performed in that position ahead of Rishabh Pant in the newly concluded ODI series against New Zealand. Karim implied that the Indians believe tank should not change the team’s combination just to have a left-handed batter in the middle order.
Karim made these mentions during a talk on India News Sports on Wednesday, November 30. He said:
“I wanted Suryakumar Yadav to bat at No.4 in this series. You cannot tinker with your team combination just to accommodate one left-hander. It’s not Rishabh Pant’s fault.
“Team management is to blame for the decision. I believe that No.4 is the ideal position for Suryakumar Yadav. It is not going to benefit India if they continue to be rigid about having a left-hander for that spot.”
Suryakumar exhibited stellar form in the T20I series against the Blackcaps, convening 124 runs in 2 matches. Although, he wasn’t able to come up with analogous performances in the succeeding ODI series, finishing with 44 runs from the 3 games.
Karim also stated how most of the Indian batters contended to get going in the ODI rubber. He said that apart from Shubman Gill, no other batter was able to strike him. The earlier selector added:
“I am disappointed with the way the youngsters have performed with the bat. Barring Shubman Gill, there aren’t any other batters who have impressed a lot.
“You have to come up with exceptional performances if you want to cement your place in the ODI team. But we didn’t see that from the young guys in this series.”
The Shikhar Dhawan-led side experienced a 1-0 ODI series deprivation to New Zealand. The Men in Blue’s batting let disapprove in the 3rd and final fixture as they were packaged out for just 219 runs. The game was ultimately called off due to rain.
“You cannot form an adhesive unit when you perform with 2 separate teams” – Rajkumar Sharma
During the talk, Virat Kohli’s childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma emphasized how having different team management for all series may not be the right decision to do.
He also added that when there are 2 skippers, they are improbable to be on the same page, given that they make resolutions based on their own goals. He thinks that due to such a situation, it isn’t likely to carry out a plan by keeping the latter in mind.
Sharma added:
“India has different team management with different captains and coaches for every series. If so, how can you expect everyone to be on the same page? Shikhar Dhawan wanted to win the series and hence played Shreyas Iyer at No.3. He won’t think that once Virat Kohli returns, he is going to claim the No.3 spot.
“These problems are bound to happen unless there is only one captain and coach for every series. You cannot form a cohesive unit when you play with two separate teams.”
Update: Team India (Senior Men) and India A squad for Bangladesh tour announced.
Mored details here – https://t.co/VnBdNf60mN #TeamIndia
— BCCI (@BCCI) November 23, 2022