Suryakumar Yadav’s absence from the national squad for the Australia tour was the biggest talking point from the selection meeting that took place earlier this week. A player who came close to national selection back in 2012, Suryakumar was on the cusp of reliving his dream for the second time in the year but missed out once again.
The Sunil Joshi-headed selection panel hardly made changes to batting line-up and only dropped a couple of players from the white-ball squads. Mayank Agarwal was recalled for ODIs and earned his maiden T20I call-up. For now, Rohit Sharma isn’t part of the national team. Should he prove his fitness, he will be back.
Coming back to Suryakumar, the senior batsman reacted to the snub with a stare-off against Virat Kohli and a match-winning unbeaten 79 off just 43 balls against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). The 30-year-old’s absence from the national team since the team announcement has hogged much limelight and here’s a look at the probable reasons why he could not make the final cut –
The India A struggle
Suryakumar Yadav made his much-awaited India A comeback for the New Zealand tour earlier this year. He played all three one-dayers and twin tour matches. He did score 76 runs in tour matches but struggled against New Zealand A.
He only managed 60 runs in three List A matches at the highest score of 35, averaging 20.00. A solid performance could have seen him earn his maiden call-up for the three ODIs against South Africa but he couldn’t make the most out of those opportunities and missed out.
Inconsistent run before team selection
17, 47, 0, 10, 27, 79*, 53, 10, 0. While Suryakumar’s recent performances did make him a strong contender to make the final cut, the inconsistency factor probably kept him away. He only scored two half-centuries before team selection and could not cross the 20-run mark on five occasions.
Such inconsistency was one of the reasons why Sanju Samson remained away from the national team for over four years despite being an India A regular. It also saw Rishabh Pant losing his place in the national squad despite being backed to replace MS Dhoni.
Had Suryakumar played a few more match-winning knocks before the team selection, it would have been hard for the selectors to ignore him. He lacked that factor and the selectors probably took note of it.
Where’s the spot?
A pertinent question. Suryakumar can bat at any position but where’s the vacant spot? India have more than five openers and a number of middle-order batsmen, leaving no place for any newcomer.
In T20Is, KL Rahul will open with Shikhar Dhawan while in ODIs, the competition for places remains as fierce as it has ever been. There is no vacant spot in the white-ball team right now and it is nearly impossible for any player to even make it to the 15-member squad, forget a spot in the final XI. The best Suryakumar do is piling up a heap of runs and wait for his chance.
