Team India announced their squad for World Cup 2023 on Tuesday, September 5 with little to no surprises. Chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar reiterated the fact that these are the best 15 players they could choose keeping in mind the balance and the combination, they'll most likely play in the World Cup. However, there is still one call that left a bad taste in the mouth. A batsman averaging 24 after playing 26 matches in the format makes the cut, doesn't sit right.
Suryakumar Yadav, who is heads and shoulders above anyone in T20Is, has gone on to play 26 matches in the 50-over format and has just two half-centuries to his name. Surya is yet to make the format his own as he himself admitted to and said that with the guidance and support of coach Rahul Dravid, captain Rohit Sharma and senior batter Virat Kohli, he will continue to improve in the format.
It still remains the biggest mystery around Indian cricket that a batter -- who walks in to bat in T20Is like it's nobody's business, with chewing gum in his mouth, straight collars and a walk with the swag like the format was made for him and smashes a boundary off the first ball over the covers fielder -- isn't able to figure out his game in another white-ball format. To get the best out of him, the team management and the captain even played him as a finisher to give him those 10-15 overs in the latter half of the innings, which is his comfort zone but the results haven't been favourable.
And still, the team management is hell bent on trusting him because of what he has done in the T20 format and what he can do on his day. It's more of a reputation call, a gamble. Surya is like the joker in the pack, who will not make the first XI if all the players are fit but when he is asked to play and it's his day, he could really damage the opposition.
It hasn't happened yet and the words he used 'still improving' don't look good when you are an international player and are in the World Cup squad. At the highest level, the player should be ready for anything and everything he is asked to do, like Ishan Kishan on the other day against Pakistan.
But I guess, there are a few players with whom, you would want to go that extra mile seeing what they can do when they are on song. Three centuries in two years in international cricket is not a joke. There were options like Washington Sundar, an off-spinner all-rounder, or Sanju Samson, who averages 55 in 13 matches in the format and also gives the wicketkeeping option. But the way Samson has played in the IPL and in international cricket, hasn't given the team management enough confidence to bet on him in a tournament like the World Cup.
Is Surya's selection logical? Absolutely not! But is he worth taking a punt on? Definitely. Surya might not even play a single game but the management will have confidence if either of Shreyas Iyer or KL Rahul breaks down during the tournament, that there is a player who is worth taking a chance with, because if he comes off, even the 'SKY' is not the limit.
India squad for World Cup 2023: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Hardik Pandya (vc), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj
