“He should play every World Cup match” - Harbhajan Singh makes huge statement on Team India batter
Harbhajan Singh has opined that swashbuckling batter Suryakumar Yadav should play every match for India in the 2023 ODI World Cup. According to Harbhajan, Suryakumar is someone who has the ability to win matches on his own and, on his day, can turn any contest into a one-sided affair.
There were plenty of question marks over Suryakumar’s selection in the World Cup squad despite a string of low scores in the ODI format. The team management and selectors, however, backed him and the batter repaid the faith with two terrific knocks in the first two matches against Australia.
While analyzing Suryakumar’s performance [5:10] in the ongoing one-day series against the Aussies, Harbhajan made a big statement and said that the cricketer should play each and every match for India in the World Cup.
“Suryakumar Yadav should play every match. In whose place, I don’t know. But his name should be the first one to be written down. After that, the other players should be selected. He is a player who can win you games and completely change the complexion of a match. When he performs, he will turn the match into a one-sided one. There is no better player who can bat a batter strike rate,” Harbhajan said on his YouTube channel.
“Among finishers, we have Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja, but I feel Suryakumar Yadav should play at No. 5. He should play every World Cup match. No team has a better player than him,” the 43-year-old added.
Suryakumar contributed 50 off 49 in the first ODI in Mohali and followed it up with an entertaining 72* off 37 balls in the second match in Indore.
“His real skill is to hit the ball where there is no fielder” - Mark Waugh on maverick Indian batter
Praising the unconventional Indian batter, former Australian cricketer Mark Waugh termed Suryakumar as completely unique. He added that the right-handed batter has the rare skill to hit the ball where there is no fielder.
“He is completely unique. I have never seen a player hit the ball to the areas he hits it. His real skill is to hit the ball where there is no fielder. That sounds simple, but that needs skills. He can manipulate the field and finds the gaps,” Waugh told Jio Cinema.
During his knock in Indore, Suryakumar slammed his Mumbai Indians (MI) teammate Cameron Green for four consecutive sixes in an over, becoming just the third Indian player to achieve the feat in ODIs.