Suryakumar Yadav an option, but decision on team combination pre-eminent: WV Raman
Former Indian cricketer WV Raman has given his views on the possibility of Suryakumar Yadav coming into the country's playing XI for the fourth Test against England. Raman said the Mumbai batsman is certainly "an option" but it will all boil down to the team's approach with their playing combination.
Both Suryakumar Yadav and Prithvi Shaw were flown in to England from Sri Lanka immediately after a limited-overs series there. They have found themselves in selection talks and media rumors after India's back-to-back batting collapses at Headingley, led by glaring failures of the middle order.
WV Raman said the shocking transition from Lord's to Leeds has made it a difficult choice for the management, which they'll have to take by first analyzing the need for an extra batsman.
"Yeah, he can be an option but the point we need to consider is - Is it a problem with the team? We have to see if we need to bolster our batting and try and bring Suryakumar Yadav in or whether he'll replace somebody else. It's a bit of a conundrum. It's not going to be easy for the team management to decide and especially when things are suddenly like they have in this series," WV Raman said in an online media interaction organized by Sony.
WV Raman added:
"In London a couple of weeks ago things were really sort of in their favor, they were really elated after a fabulous win which came out of nowhere. And by the time you realized what was happening, in a blink of an eye, they were looking down the barrel on the first day of the Test match. They first need to think of the combination and then decide on the person who'll make up the combination."
Suryakumar Yadav, a contender for India's T20 World Cup squad, also has a decent first-class record. In 77 matches, he has scored over 5300 runs at an average of over 44, including 14 hundreds and 26 half-tons.
Ajinkya Rahane needs to find the right approach, perhaps like KL Rahul: WV Raman
Former India Women head coach WV Raman also weighed in on Ajinkya Rahane's form. He was non-committal about the case of the vice-captain being dropped for the next Test and said he needs to find the right approach in English conditions. WV Raman claimed that Rahane and the rest of the lineup could also take a cue from KL Rahul, who is India's highest scorer in the series so far.
"It's not a case of having to drop somebody in so much as to think whether you need an extra batter in the side... When a team is shot out for a score below 100 and batters have not even gone into double figures there's nothing much you can analyze about it. Perhaps they can take a leaf out of the approach - I am not asking anybody to follow others blindly - followed by Rahul. The way he batted in Nottingham, you know, he was playing very close, he was coming down the track, he was not looking to play, but to leave as many balls as he wanted. Which was good batting and gave him the results he was looking for..." said WV Raman.
WV Raman concluded:
"So it's perhaps the case of each player working out the approach that'll help them overcome the conditions because see, let's face it, Rahane is experienced, he has played enough international cricket. So it's not that he isn't capable, it's just he's got to workout a method or approach to succeed."
The fourth and penultimate Test of the series will kick off at 3:30 PM IST on Thursday at The Oval.