Team India head coach Rahul Dravid added that Suryakumar Yadav’s ODI performances have not been up to the mark in recent times. He further added that Yadav is still in a learning phase as far as his ODI game is concerned since he hasn’t played a lot of competitive 50-over cricket as well. However, he has represented India in 25 matches in the format, scoring 476 runs at an average of 23.80.
Reflecting on his consistent failures, Rahul Dravid commented: “Surya is a really good player, there is no doubt about that. He has shown that. Especially in T20 cricket, in domestic cricket, in white-ball cricket. He has some very good performances. He would be the first one to admit that his ODI numbers haven’t been up to the standards or the standards that he has set in T20. He’s also probably learning ODIs. He has played a lot of competitive T20 cricket through the IPL before he made his debut for India. In One-dayers he hasn’t played as much competitive cricket, because there is no IPL for one-dayers.”
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“He’s also learning about his game, and learning to bat in the middle overs. He is a talent and we want to give him as many opportunities as we can. It is really up to him now to take those opportunities and use those opportunities. In the kind of setup we are, we give people as many chances as we possibly can,” Dravid further added.
However, before the West Indies series, Suryakumar Yadav had faced three consecutive golden ducks against Australia at home in the three-match ODI series as well. While he filed to utilise the chances, keeper-batter Ishan Kishan has impressed with the bat. After scoring his maiden half-century in the second Test, he has crossed fifty in both the ODIs as well.
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Praising Ishan Kishan, Rahul Dravid said: “Ishan has done really well, this is his third fifty in a row, counting the Test match as well. He’s taking the opportunities when given a chance. That’s all that we ask from young players. We want to give them as many chances as we possibly can. We can’t give chances to everyone all the time. There are other talented guys as well. We try as much as we can.”
