Mumbai Indians coach Mark Boucher has termed Suryakumar Yadav as the “best T20 player at the moment” and sought to play down the Mumbai Indians star’s recent troubles with the bat. Boucher sounded confident that Suryakumar will bounce back.
“Surya is fine. I had a chat. Can’t say a person isn’t in form if he can’t get past the first ball. He is probably the best player in T20s at the moment,” Boucher said in an interaction with reporters in Mumbai on Wednesday alongside the team’s captain Rohit Sharma ahead of the start of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Also read – ‘It Can Happen To Anyone’: Rohit Sharma Backs Suryakumar Yadav Despite Hattrick of Ducks
Suryakumar, who is often praised for his ability to play shots all around the ground and has been an impactful player both for franchise and country, especially in T20 cricket, had a woeful time in the recently-concluded ODI series against Australia. Suryakumar bagged three first-ball ducks in three matches on the trot leading to calls for his ouster from the Indian side. The fact that the debacle struck right before the IPL also seemed to make Mumbai Indians worried.
However, India and Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma stood behind the beleaguered batsman steadfastly. “He played only three balls… I don’t know how much you could look into it. Today, I didn’t think it was that great a ball. He just chose the wrong shot. He should have maybe come forward. He knows the best. He plays spin so well. We have seen that over the last couple of years. That’s why we wanted to hold him back and give him that role of the last 15-20 overs where he could play his game,” Rohit said following India’s 21-run loss to Australia in the ODI series decider.
Also read – ‘He Bats With The Mindset of Winning Matches’: Former India Cricketer Wants Team Management to Persist With Suryakumar Yadav
“It’s really unfortunate that he could only play three balls in the series. That can happen to anyone,” Rohit added.
Suryakumar received support from India’s ICC World Cup 2011 hero Yuvraj Singh as well. “Every sports person goes thru ups & downs in their career! We’ve all experienced it at sum point. I believe @surya_14kumar is a key player for India & will play an imp role in the #WorldCup if given the opportunities. Let’s back our players coz our Surya will rise again,” Yuvraj tweeted a day after the third ODI of the series against Australia in Chennai.
Former India spinner Nikhil Chopra also backed Suryakumar, saying that he batted with a match-winner’s mindset and, therefore, should be persisted with. “What he (Suryakumar) has shown in the last year, scoring more than 1000 runs in T20s with a strike rate of over 180, I hope he makes it to the World Cup squad. When SKY starts to get runs, sky is the limit because when he performs, he will win you games. He bats with a mindset of winning the matches so I just hope that he is a part of the XI and the Indian team persists with him,” Chopra told News18 CricketNext.
Suryakumar will be a key player for the Mumbai Indians as the franchise looks to bounce back from a last-place finish last year and win their sixth crown. According to an Indian Express report, with Rohit indicating his desire to sit out a few matches to keep himself fresh and fit for India’s marquee events this year, including the ICC World Test Championship Final and the ICC World Cup, Suryakumar will don the captain’s hat.
Suryakumar has an impressive IPL record, having scored 2,644 runs in 123 matches at a strike rate of 136.78.
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