"He's going to put you in an unassailable position" - Brian Lara wants Suryakumar Yadav to bat at No.3 for India in T20 World Cup 2024
Former West Indies legendary batter Brian Lara is a massive admirer of India's star batter Suryakumar Yadav. He is hopeful that the Men in Blue will find a way of playing Suryakumar at No.3 in the T20 World Cup to be played in June in the West Indies and the USA.
There has been a lot of talk about Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal potentially being India's opening combination with Virat Kohli batting at No.3. However, Lara explained why he feels Suryakumar needs to bat at No.3 by shedding light on the latter's ability to blow away bowling attacks.
Here's what Brian Lara told PTI about Suryakumar Yadav:
"He just has to bat at three. He is one of the greatest T20 players in the game. Get in on it as quickly as possible. He's not an opener, get him out there and if he can bat for 10-15 overs, you know what's going to happen. He's going to put you in an unassailable position if you bat him first, or he's going to win the game if he's batting second."
Suryakumar Yadav is finding form just at the right time for India, fresh off a fine hundred for the Mumbai Indians against the SunRisers Hyderabad on Monday, May 6.
Brian Lara on India going with four spinners in the squad
Another big topic of debate in the cricketing fraternity about India's T20 World Cup squad was them going with four spinners in their 15-man contingent. Brian Lara is delighted to see the likes of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav both in the mix and stressed the importance of having wicket-taking spinners in the Caribbean.
On this, he stated:
"I like the fact that Chahal is there. He is not just an IPL star. You look at him, oh, you look at the brains that he put behind the ball, the deliveries, he's out-thinking the batter. And also, Kuldeep. So, I see those guys are guys who are going to get wickets for you, not just look to restrain the battle or scared to bowl an attacking delivery."
India's T20 World Cup Squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Hardik Pandya (Vice Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohd. Siraj.
Travelling Reserves – Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, and Avesh Khan