The former India captain Sunil Gavaskar was not happy with the decision of Suryakumar Yadav to send Shivam Dube at No. 3 in Super 4 Asia Cup clash with Bangladesh. Gavaskar has opined that Dube is better placed in the position of a finisher and why Suryakumar, who is himself not making any headway, did not accept the challenge of batting higher up.
India was well off with the openers contributing 77 runs within the powerplay. But the innings was broken when Dube came in and fell cheaply to Rishad Hossain. The middle order did not cash in on the platform and India ended up with 168-6 which seemed insignificant following their initial blast.
In an interview with India Today, Sunil Gavaskar warned the team not to indulge into futile experimentations with the batting order. He believed that such changes would disorient the rhythm of the side and insisted that the senior players such as Suryakumar would have to take the initiative rather than forcing other players to play the roles that they are not accustomed to playing.
“Sometimes, when you are looking to give batters some practice, you tend to move your batting order just that little bit. I don’t think there should be too much of a change in the batting order. That can affect the rhythm of the team. Batting order also needs a rhythm.”Occasionally, you can push somebody up, looking at the circumstances. But to push a finisher like Dube at No. 3 was a little bit difficult. That is one area where India faltered a little bit.”
Sunil Gavaskar
Gavaskar questioned why Suryakumar did not bat following Shubman Gill’s dismissal for 29.
“You yourself as captain have not scored runs in the previous game. It is important for the captain to come in and get a few runs. He came at No. 4 and got out, looking to play the same shot [like previous game]. That’s a very productive shot for him, but when you are getting out to that, maybe you should not play it till you have really got the feel of the surface.”
Sunil Gavaskar
Mustafizur Rahman, an off-left-arm pacer, caught Suryakumar behind and took him out for five. When he attempted to flick a short ball, he only received an edge since he was unable to make solid contact.
Suryakumar Yadav’s batting record as T20I captain
Suryakumar’s batting in Twenty20 Internationals appears to be suffering from the responsibility of captaincy. He has amassed 617 runs at an average of 26.82 and a strike rate of 156.20 in his 27 games as captain. As the team’s captain, he has amassed 104 and a half centuries.
However, the 35-year-old has amassed 2,040 runs at an average of 43.40 and a strike rate of 168.17 in 61 games where he has not been the team’s captain. He has also amassed three hundreds and 17 half-centuries.
