The former New Zealand allrounder Scott Styris reckons although Suryakumar Yadav can be a good fit for India at no. 3, he won’t be able to bat at no. 3 when the Indian team has their first choice players at their disposal, because Virat Kohli, being the senior member of the squad, will take the no. 3 position.
Talking about the batting skills of Suryakumar Yadav on Sports18, Scott Styris said that Suryakumar is not a conventional batsman whose go-to shots are necessarily straight down the ground or square of the wicket. He actually hits the ball over extra cover and over fine leg behind the keeper, which is why the opposition captain can’t set a conventional field against him.
Suryakumar Yadav has recently been opening the batting for India in the ongoing T20I series against West Indies and has been able to give India quick starts in all the three innings he has played so far, although he has gone past the score of fifty in only of the games. But, the way Suryakumar goes after the bowlers is something that puts the opposition under pressure straightaway at the start of the innings.
Styris, however, reckons that Suryakumar will have to go back to his usual position of no. 4 whenever India picks their strongest squad, which is likely to be in the Asia Cup. The Indian vice-captain KL Rahul is also expected to return to the national set-up for the Asia Cup and he will be an automatic choice for India as far as the opening slot is concerned.
Scott Styris said, "Suryakumar Yadav has ability to hit the ball into funny areas. That makes it incredibly difficult for the opposition captains to have to defend the field. He can hit 360 degrees. He provides X factor". (On Sports18).
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) August 4, 2022
Suryakumar Yadav has scored his first and only international hundred batting at no. 4
Suryakumar Yadav has shown his batting prowess at no. 4 as well and in fact, it’s at no. 4 only that he has scored his first and only international hundred so far. He did it in the third game of the recent T20I series against England, where India was chasing a huge score of over 200 and had lost three wickets for just 30 odd runs.
It remains to be seen what the Indian team management decides about Suryakumar’s batting position in the Asia Cup.
Suryakumar Yadav – is the best Indian batsman in T20I currently. #IndvWI pic.twitter.com/VVadVLc9nz
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) August 2, 2022
