Rahul Dravid supports Suryakumar Yadav after three successive ODI ducks
Head coach Rahul Dravid has backed batsman Suryakumar Yadav's selection in the ODI XI despite three successive ducks during India's ongoing ODI series against Australia.
Suryakumar Yadav.Yadav currently occupies first position in the International Cricket Council's rankings for T20I batsmen, but has struggled in the intermediate format.
He is averaging 25.47 after 22 ODIs.
"One of the things about Suryakumar is he is also learning the 50-over game a little bit. The T20 game is slightly different. Even though you hadn't played for India for a long time, in T20 cricket, he played nearly 10 years of IPL - a tournament which is like international cricket," said Dravid.
"He has played a lot of high-pressure T20 games but in one-day cricket, there's no equivalent tournament in domestic cricket, you'll have to play Vijay Hazare and all that.
"Even though he has played a lot of T20 cricket, I think he has not played a lot of one-day cricket. We just need to give him some time and be patient with him. We certainly see the upside of him doing well, which is very good for the side."
Yadav has effectively replaced the injured Shreyas Iyer in India's ODI XI. Iyer has been sidelined by a back injury. He is only expected to return to franchise and international cricket in late April 2023.
"Obviously, it's unfortunate for Shreyas to get injured - he's one of those guys we think will bat for us at number four and he has been given a lot of time in that position. Not really concerned so much about Suryakumar. You have got two first-ballers against two pretty good balls," concluded Dravid.