In an exclusive interview with Star Sports on Follow the Blues LIVE, former Indian cricketer Sanjay Bangar provided valuable insights into Suryakumar Yadav’s performance in One Day International (ODI) cricket. These insights shed light on the complexities and considerations that shape India’s cricketing strategies as they prepare for crucial contests.
Bangar emphasized the challenges of finding boundaries during the middle overs of an ODI innings and discussed the need for Suryakumar Yadav to adapt his game during this critical phase.
“He has already said that Rahul Dravid is there, and he has spoken to him. The biggest factor is that boundaries don’t come that easily in the middle part of the innings,” Sanjay Bangar noted. “When three or four wickets go, then how do you find the boundaries is the big problem because the ball becomes old? In a T20 match, the ball remains solid for the entire innings. In ODIs, in the last five overs for each team, the ball becomes soft because of which you don’t get boundaries that easily. And the second thing is, every batsman needs to find that formula on how to score runs.”
Bangar acknowledged Suryakumar Yadav’s versatility as a player with a keen sense of where and how to target boundaries. However, he highlighted the need for Yadav to find a method to score runs between the 25th and 40th over, a period that often requires a different approach.
“I don’t think he is clear in his head and heart about how to score runs in this period,” Sanjay Bangar remarked. “He can play as he does in the T20 format, but if wickets fall, he needs to find out how to rotate strike between the 25th and the 40th over, and he needs to find his own method to score runs here which he is obviously thinking about.”
Bangar also shared his perspective on Suryakumar Yadav’s inclusion in the playing eleven for upcoming tournaments like the Asia Cup and the World Cup, emphasizing the importance of maintaining a balanced and effective lineup.
“According to me, if the team has an opening where he can play, he definitely should,” Sanjay Bangar opined. “But to put him in the starting eleven only for him to get game time, I don’t think the team needs to do all of that. I think they will play only with batsmen who make the proper combinations, and who make the final starting eleven, they should get most of the playing time.”
Bangar’s insights underscore the meticulous planning and strategic considerations involved in shaping India’s ODI team, with a focus on achieving a balanced and successful lineup for future tournaments.
