"One format bully" - Fans disappointed with Suryakumar Yadav's inability to build and pace an ODI innings
Suryakumar Yadav's difficulties in asserting his authority on the 50-over format continued with a lukewarm outing during the first ODI against New Zealand in Hyderabad on January 18. The No.1 ranked T20I batter's stay at the crease came to an end after a brief cameo that yielded 31 runs off 26 deliveries.
Suryakumar came into bat after the fall of Ishan Kishan's wicket. Batting at No.5, he looked in good flow, despite his issues with pacing in the format of late.
With more than 30 overs still left when he came into bat, the Mumbai-born batter only had to play second-fiddle to the well-settled Shubman Gill at the other end.
Suryakumar got off the mark with a boundary off his second delivery itself, setting the tempo, just like he does in the shortest format. He struck two more boundaries in the next over to race to 15 off nine deliveries. He and Gill also quickly brought up the 50-run partnership.
However, just when it seemed like Suryakumar Yadav was coming into his own in the 50-over format, he lost his wicket courtesy of a soft dismissal. Suryakumar played a slower, fulish delivery by Daryl Mitchell on the up, leading to a simple catch for Mitchell Santner at short cover.
The fact that the delivery held onto the pitch a little did not help the batter's cause.
Fans were left disappointed with the T20I specialist's recurring trend of failing to convert his start in ODI cricket. Here are some of the reactions on Twitter:
Team India looking for a big finish after losing Suryakumar Yadav
Suryakumar Yadav's dismissal brought Hardik Pandya to the crease with more than 20 overs remaining in the first innings.
The Gujarat Titans (GT) duo kept the run scoring going, with Shubman Gill notching his second consecutive hundred as well as becoming the fastest Indian batter to reach 1000 ODI runs. Gill took 19 innings to reach the landmark figure, beating Virat Kohli's record by a comfortable margin of five innings.
At the time of writing, Hardik is finding his groove after facing 31 deliveries for his 22 runs. Gill, on the other hand, is gliding by and is unbeaten on 128. Team India are 234/4 after 37.4 overs and will be eyeing a 300+ total.
Do you think Suryakumar Yadav will find his groove in the ODI format anytime soon? Let us know what you think.