T20 World Cup 2022: Does England have a plan for Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya?

“We understand his game pretty well, and we do understand what the bowler is trying to do well when he’s batting. So it’s a collective of everything,” he said about the man nicknamed SKY. 

“He understands he likes playing on the considerable ground. He hates playing on small grounds. As he told me once, he doesn’t like the smaller boundaries and smaller grounds. He can’t see the gaps."

“I believe that he likes to see big gaps, and that’s where his strength is.” 

As of now, it’s hard to pick too many weaknesses in SKY’s game. However, he can be susceptible to quality short bowling in the early parts of his innings. 

This was evident during India’s game against South Africa, wherein he was dismissed with a rising short ball before he was fully set. 

There’s also the fact that, early in his innings, he can sometimes be a little stuck in the crease when facing spin bowling. 

Again, this isn’t an issue when he is set. But early in his innings, he will struggle or be quiet against a quality spinner. 

In England, they have three spin options – Adil Rashid, Moeen Ali, and even Liam Livingstone – to turn to if they decide to exploit these weaknesses. 

SKY’s batting depends a lot on his ability to play his strokes, which is easier to do against pace bowling. 

Spinners require more power and timing to dispatch – and while there’s no denying that Suryakumar Yadav has both in spades, it doesn’t exactly come naturally in his wheelhouse. 

However, SKY isn’t the only batsman who could pose a threat – and no, we’re not even referring to Virat Kohli, as we all know what he can do. 

No, one of the biggest threats to England can come from Hardik Pandya, assuming he can find some form. So far, the problem is that he hasn’t seen the gear that makes him such a destructive lower-order batsman. 

Is it down to him trying too hard to be more responsible? Or is Hardik Pandya struggling to get away with quality pace bowling? Or is it a combination of both? 

In all likelihood, it is a combination of the two factors, but there is no moving away from the fact that Hardik Pandya does tend to struggle to get quick bowlers away at the start of his innings. 

That has been evident whenever he has batted so far in the tournament. As a result, he’s looked like a shadow of the batsman he can be. 

England will doubtless have taken note, and they have an array of pace bowlers – all of whom can operate at the death, with Sam Curran being the deadliest of the lot. 

If he can succeed in prolonging Hardik Pandya’s pain, all while the spinners make life challenging for Suryakumar Yadav, England might fancy their chances of nicking a result even more.