India captain Suryakumar Yadav, renowned for his attacking 360-degree batting in the shortest format of the game, hasn’t played any innings of note in the first three matches of the ongoing T20I series against England and has paid the price for his ultra-aggressive approach, which former England captain Michael Vaughan finds insensible on part of the skipper.
Surya has hardly spent time in the middle this series, facing just 17 deliveries in total in three matches for his 26 runs.
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In the third T20I at Rajkot on Tuesday, Surya had a chance to spend time in getting his eye in while steadying the Indian innings when he came in at a shaky 31 for 2, chasing 172 to win. But he took off like a train, hitting a six and a four in his 7-ball 14, and couldn’t go any further — leaving his team in further trouble at 48 for 3 inside the Powerplay.
“Only way the players get into good form is by spending time in the middle,” said Vaughan while speaking on a Cricbuzz show. “At the minute, Suryakumar Yadav is going out there, hitting a few good shots, and before you blink, he is back on his way to the dugout without making too much of a contribution.”
Surya was appointed full-time captain in the shortest format after Rohit Sharma quit T20Is following India’s T20 World Cup victory in June last year. However, Surya’s form with the bat hasn’t been the same since then.
“When you say be aggressive all the time, it is choosing the right ball to be aggressive to. Clearly you cannot hit every single ball to the boundary. For India to be the team they are, they are the world champions for a reason, they need their best players in form,” Vaughan said.
Vaughan said Surya should have recognized the fact that India weren’t chasing a huge total in Rajkot and could have rebuilt the innings with some sensible batting, even if he had to cut down on playing the big shots.
“If there was ever a time for him (Surya) to just step back and go from fifth gear to third gear, just to give himself a chance to get in, it was probably now (in Rajkot). You were not chasing 210-220, the target was a reasonable one, just to play sensibly and chase it down,” Vaughan concluded.
The third T20I will be played in Pune on January 31, followed by the last match of the series in Mumbai on February 2.
India lead the five-match series 2-1.
