Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 8 (ANI): Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh has backed Suryakumar Yadav to be in starting playing eleven for the ICC Cricket World Cup in India, saying that what he can do with his role, even stars like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma cannot do it, terming him a "complete player".
Suryakumar Yadav has been included in the ICC Cricket World Cup squad of India. But there is a lot of discussion around his inclusion in the cricket fraternity due to his lack of runs in the 50-over format. Harbhajan feel that team management was right in picking up Suryakumar instead of Sanju Samson, another candidate for the middle-order role.
"I feel Suryakumar Yadav is a complete, complete player," Harbhajan said in a press conference organised by Star Sports, according to ESPNCricinfo.
"I do not think the selectors have been harsh on Sanju Samson. I do feel Sanju is a very, very good player, a quality player. But you can only select fifteen players. But picking Suryakumar over Sanju is the right call.""Because the game that Suryakumar has in the middle over[s], I do not think Sanju has that game. Even he goes for big shots from the first ball, but the reliability Suryakumar gives you - he can score big. Sanju, I feel, plays the kind of cricket where there is a lot of chance that you get out. Whereas Suryakumar, I know a lot of people ask what has he done in ODIs, but what he has done in T20s, if his innings is only going to be that long then I feel in that position, there is not a better player than Suryakumar in India.""What he can do at that position, neither Virat [Kohli] can do, nor Sanju or Rohit Sharma. Because what he does it is a difficult job, batting at [no.] 5-6. What [MS] Dhoni has done, what Yuvi [Yuvraj Singh] has done," Harbhajan said.
Harbhajan feels that Suryakumar has the game to shine in the challenging middle-order role of the 50-over format.
"Because batting there is the toughest," Harbhajan said.
"Opening in [one-dayers], you know where to score runs. You have a lot of time. But when you go in to bat after 20-25 overs, you need the game to know where you can find gaps to get boundaries and I do not think anyone in the Indian team can do that better than Suryakumar. And if it was up to me, I would play him in the team. Because when he is in the team, it increases the pressure on the opposition. Whether he fires or not. Because till the time he is at the crease, there will be pressure because on any day he can play a match-winning innings. He can hit 50-60 runs in 20 balls," he said.
"So you have to play a player like this. You cannot waste him by keeping him out. So that ends the debate on whether Sanju should be in the team ahead of Suryakumar or not. Whether Sanju is in the team or not, Suryakumar Yadav should be in the XI," he concluded.
In 26 ODIs and 24 innings, Suryakumar has managed just 511 runs at an average of 24.33, with two half-centuries.
Interestingly, Suryakumar got a solid start in ODI cricket. In his first six innings, he scored 261 runs at an average of 65.25, with two half-centuries. His last half-century was in February 2022 against West Indies. In his first-ever ODI series against Sri Lanka, he also won the 'Man of the Series' award for scoring 124 runs in three innings at an average of 62.00 with one half-century, striking at a rate of around 122.
But since then, it has been downhill for the batter. In 18 innings that followed since his last fifty, he has scored just 250 runs at an average of 14.70, with the best score of 35. This also includes three successive golden ducks against Australia. His drastic fall in ODIs and struggle to keep going in ODIs despite promising starts has puzzled a lot of fans.
The ODI World Cup will kick off 2019 finalists England and New Zealand clash at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on October 5, with the event culminating in the final at the same venue on Sunday, 19 November. India will start its campaign with a match against Australia in Chennai on October 8.
Indian squad for World Cup: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj. (ANI)