Former India player Sanjay Manjrekar highlighted that Suryakumar Yadav has been batting more cautiously since his impressive half-century against the USA in India’s first game of the T20 World Cup.
Manjrekar, now a commentator, noted that this cautious batting style from both Suryakumar and Tilak Varma is preventing India from fully utilizing aggressive players like Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, and Rinku Singh.
“I’ve noticed something in Suryakumar Yadav that concerns me. In the match against the USA, after India was at 77-6, he adapted his game well, slowed down, then played a brilliant innings and became the player of the match,” Manjrekar mentioned on his Instagram.
“But since then, I feel he’s taken that too far. In the game against Pakistan, after India lost a couple of wickets, he really played it safe. Together with Tilak Varma, they are taking a conservative approach, which results in underutilizing players like Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, and Rinku Singh,” he added.
Suryakumar has a strike rate of 136.14 across four matches, compared to his career T20I strike rate of 163.70. Tilak Varma, however, is striking at 120.45, with a career rate of 142.13.
Since Gautam Gambhir became the head coach, he has urged the batters to attack the bowling without worrying about losing wickets. However, Suryakumar and Tilak’s cautious approach has puzzled some Cricket fans and experts.
India’s next match is on Sunday, February 22, against South Africa at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. This will be their first Super 8 game after reaching the finals in the previous T20 World Cup. Other teams in their group include the West Indies and Zimbabwe.
