India suffered a rare home series defeat when Australia beat them in the three-match ODI series by a margin of 2-1. This was the Men in Blue’s first ODI series defeat at home since 2019. The biggest disappointment in the series came undoubtedly from Suryakumar Yadav, who failed to open his scoring in a single game of the series where he was supposed to cement his place in the ODI squad in the absence of the injured Shreyas Iyer.
Suryakumar Yadav registered three consecutive golden ducks in the three games of the series, thus becoming the first Indian batter to achieve this embarrassing feat. This has called for many to question the place of the no.1 T20I batter in the 50-over format.
In the post-match press conference, Rohit Sharma opened up on Suryakumar Yadav’s failures in the ODI series against Australia, and also backed the under-fire batsman. He also explained why SKY was sent lower down the order in the final ODI at Chennai.
“He only played three balls in three (games) this series. I don’t know how much to look into it. He got three good balls, to be honest. Today, it wasn’t that good ball; he should have gone forward. He knows best. He plays spin so well. We have seen that over last couple of years. That’s why we held him back and give him that role for the last 15-20 overs where he can play his game, but it’s really unfortunate he could only play three balls. That can happen to anyone. But the potential and ability is always there. He is just going through that phase right now,” the Indian skipper said after the gameSuryakumar Yadav was dismissed in the first 2 matches by the pace of Mitchell Starc, as he was out LBW to inswinging deliveries on both occasions. In the final game, left-arm spinner Ashton Agar, got him clean bowled for another golden duck.
