Suryakumar Yadav gave his all as a batter in the 20-20 World Cup 2022. With 239 runs scored across six matches at an average of 59.75, Team India’s star performer finished third in the tournament. Aside from that, another notable aspect of his performance was his strike rate, which was nearly 190 in the tournament. The player, who hit three fifties in the world event, was instrumental in bolstering India’s middle order.
Suryakumar was at his best during the mega event in Australia, but he fell short in two crucial matches against Pakistan and England. Wasim Jaffer, the former India batter, believes that the team needed him the most in those matches and that he should have performed well in them.
“If I have to be a little bit critical, the two games in which we needed him he has failed in that — against Pakistan and England. I will be talking from critical point of view, otherwise, he has been brilliant right throughout the year,” Jaffer told CricTracker.
Suryakumar scored 15 runs in India’s 20-20 World Cup opener against Pakistan, but only 14 runs in the team’s semi-final match against England. “I feel he is the X-factor of our Indian batting. No matter whoever we have got at 1, 2, 3 or 5,6, when Suryakumar Yadav performs then only the score reaches 180 or 200. So when he fails, we feel that our batting has failed. This is how much importance Suryakumar Yadav brings to the Indian battting,” added Jaffer.
India tour of New Zealand
In the meantime, India is preparing for their next assignment, a complete white-ball series against Kane Williamson’s New Zealand. The series will begin with a T20I match at Sky Stadium in Wellington on the 18th of November.
The three-match T20I series will be followed by the three-match ODI series from the 25th of November. Many of the senior players have taken a rest for the series, allowing some young faces to play in the series. Hardik Pandya will lead the T20I team, while Shikhar Dhawan will lead the ODI team.
