Suryakumar Yadav with former India coach Ravi Shastri. (Screengrab)Former India coach Ravi Shastri feels Suyryakumar Yadav is ‘a three-format player,’ and should at number five for India in the Test cricket.
“I think he is a three-format player. I know they do not talk about him in Test cricket, but he is a three-format player. This guy can play Test cricket and I’ll tell you what, he can surprise a few. Send him there at number 5 and let him stir it up,” Shastri told the official broadcaster after India’s convincing 56-run win over the Netherlands in the ongoing T20 World Cup.
Suryakumar Yadav, who smoked51 not out off 25 balls against Netherlands thanked Shastri for showing faith in his abilities.
“I still remember he called me up, he was sitting by the pool side, before me making my debut and told me ‘ja ke bindas dena’ (Go and smash them),” recalled Suryakumar.
It was Ravi Shastri then the head coach of the Indian national cricket team, and had urged Suryakumar Yadav to “stay strong and patient” after he was ignored for India’s tour of Australia in 2020.
Surya namaskar 🙏🏻. Stay strong and patient @surya_14kumar #MIvsRCB pic.twitter.com/oJEJhekwpC
— Ravi Shastri (@RaviShastriOfc) October 28, 2020
“Surya namaskar. Stay strong and patient @surya_14kumar #MIvsRCB,” Shastri, had tweeted.
Against Netherlands, when Suryakumar Yadav walked to bat, India was at 84-2 and still only scoring at seven per over. Kohli and Yadav then put on 95 runs off 48 balls. Yadav hit seven fours and a six, the latter bringing up his half-century off the last ball of the Indian inning.
“The situation I go in to bat, there are always two scenarios in front of me – either the team has lost two early wickets or there are already good runs (on the board) and two wickets are down. If less runs are there, then I have to increase the tempo and if there are more runs, then I have to maintain that tempo. It’s simple,” said after the match.
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