Last Update on: October 3rd, 2023 at 07:37 pm
Former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh has picked Suryakumar Yadav over Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan in the Indian middle order for the ICC World Cup 2023. He believes that the batter can change the course of the game in no time and he should be played in the XI.
The Indian team management will be having a selection dilemma going into the ICC World Cup 2023. There will be a problem of plenty for them, which albeit is good, and they will have to make some harsh calls as all the batters who are in contention have performed.
The current lot of players be it, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, and Suryakumar Yadav all have performed in the middle order and to pick three among them would be tough. Iyer and Rahul have performed exceptionally well after their injuries and even before that they had great records.
Ishan Kishan on the other hand has been phenomenal too as he has been consistent whereas Suryakumar Yadav took had great outings against Australia in the recently concluded ODI series. He smashed two half-centuries and had a decent outing in the last game as well.
With all the traffic in the Indian middle order, Harbhajan Singh said that over everyone Suryakumar Yadav should be given preference. He said that no one is like him and he’s someone who can help India win the ICC World Cup 2023. Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, he explained:
“Suryakumar Yadav, he’s someone who can win you games, he’s someone who can win you the Cup. He’s someone who can change the course of the game. If you are losing the game, Suryakumar comes in and changes the course of the game. When he bats, he bats differently. There’s no player in World cricket like him. So you have to have him even if he’s flop for 4-5 games.”
Ravi Shastri Touts Suryakumar Yadav As X-Factor for India in ICC World Cup 2023
Ravi Shastri also backed Suryakumar Yadav to be in the team. The former Indian head coach believes that he will bring the X-factor into the team. He explained:
“And in Indian conditions, very rarely it will struggle. You know you expect 1-2-3-4 – one hundred. He will always be in my 12. You have to see the conditions. A real flat track – I would think of Surya. Because you expect the other 3-4 to get runs. If it’s (conditions are) tough, tricky, or seaming then maybe you don’t know. You have 5 proper batters, all five similar, instead of that have one X-factor – could be a left-hander could be a Surya.”
India will open their campaign against Australia at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on October 8.
