Team India has tried out Surya at all positions from one-down right down to No. 7. And his average of 24.33 from 26 ODIs is a pale shadow of his exploits in T20 cricket.
New Delhi: Legendary Indian off-spinner and 2007 World T20I and 2011 World Cup winner Harbhajan Singh wants star batter Suryakumar Yadav to be a part of the Men in Blue playing XI at any cost.
The Mumbai Indian (MI) star batter has a poor record in ODI cricket, but still, his dynamic batting and aggressive approach have earned him a spot in India’s 15-member squad for the upcoming ICC Men’s ODI World Cup 2023.
There is a constant debate about Indian players Suryakumar Yadav and Sanju Samson. Fingers are always raised by Indian selectors as to why Suryakumar has been preferred ahead of Samson despite the right-handed batter not being at his very best in the 50-over format.
The debate picked up intensity on Tuesday when the 32-year-old Suryakumar was picked over Rajasthan Royals (RR) player Sanju Samson in the World Cup 2023 squad.
In a recent interaction organised by Star Sports, Harbhajan Singh expressed his opinion on Suryakumar Yadav. He expressed his thoughts to a select group of journalists in a press conference “I feel Suryakumar Yadav is a complete player. I don’t think selectors have been harsh on Sanju Samson. Yes I do feel, Sanju is a quality player, but you can only select 15. And I feel picking Suryakumar Yadav over Sanju is the right move. Because the game Suryakumar Yadav has for the middle overs, Sanju probably doesn’t possess that yet. Suryakumar Yadav gives you the reliability and he can make big scores, while Sanju plays high-risk cricket.
“Some people will throw Surya’s one-day numbers at me. But what he has done in T20s, and if he comes into bat with those many deliveries left, then I don’t think there’s a better player than him in the whole country. What he can do in that position, even Rohit and Virat cannot,” Harbhajan Singh said
“It’s the most difficult job to bat at Nos. 5 and 6 – where Dhoni and Yuvi excelled in. If you’re going in after 30-35 overs, you need a game to pick gaps and hit boundaries. And nobody can do it better than Suryakumar Yadav. And if it were in my hands, I’d play him every single time. Because regardless of whether he clicks or no, his presence will put some sort of pressure on the opposition. Till the time he’s at the crease, he can play a match-winning knock any day. And players like him shouldn’t be wasted sitting on the sidelines. So about the Surya versus Sanju debate, regardless of whether Sanju is in the squad, Suryakumar Yadav should be in the playing 11,” he explained.
The Rohit Sharma-led side has tried out Surya at all positions from one-down right down to No. 7. And his average of 24.33 from 26 ODIs is a pale shadow of his exploits in T20 cricket. Sanju Samson, on the other hand, despite playing just 13 matches, boasts an average of 55.71 at a strike rate of 104.