Surya Kumar Yadav has been ruling the roost in the T20I format. Ever since he made his debut against England in 2021, Yadav has been in stupendous form and is also the number 1 T20I batter in the world.
Some of the shots which Surya Kumar Yadav plays in T20Is is absolute mind-boggling and sends shivers down the spines of opposition bowlers.
But if we take a look at his stats in the ODI format in recent times, then those are pretty shocking numbers for someone of his calibre.
In the ongoing ODI series between India and Australia, Surya Kumar Yadav has been out on golden duck.
Both times Mitchell Starc bowled an inswinger and the 32-year-old cricketer has been trapped leg before.
He has been failing in the ODI format for quite some time.
The flamboyant batter has a paltry average of 25.5 in ODIs and has managed to amass only 433 runs in 20 ODIs so far.
In this article, we take a look at 3 reasons why Surya Kumar Yadav hasn’t been able to deliver the goods in the ODI format:
1. Weight of expectations weighing him down
We live in cricket dominant country. Cricket is considered as a religion in India and cricketer are treated like Demi-Gods.
Whenever a cricketer performs well consistently, we have a lot of expectations of him. Same has been the case with Surya Kumar Yadav.
The aggressive 32-year-old batter has had a fairy-tale run in T20Is. Yadav has a stellar average of 46.5 in the shortest format in international cricket and has also smashed 3 centuries.
We have a sea of expectations from him and that essentially is weighing his label down.
2. No fixed batting order of Surya Kumar Yadav
One of the main reasons why Surya Kumar Yadav hasn’t been able to perform well in ODIs is because of his fickle batting order.
There are matches where he is batting in the number 3 position and there are also matches where he is batting in the number 5/6 position.
Every single time, the batting order is changed, Surya Kumar Yadav has to adopt a different strategy and approach altogether. In 22 matches so far, we have seen his batting position change drastically.
3. Selection completely based on his extraordinary T20I form
We all human beings fall prey to recency bias. This has exactly been the case with star T20I batter Surya Kumar Yadav.
The Indian cricket team has always had a number 4 conundrum and Yadav along with Shreyas Iyer were considered as the next permanent number 4 batters of India.
But the approach in a T20I game and in an ODI game are quite different.
T20Is are very fast-paced while ODIs require a batter to settle down first and then score runs.
The runs needed are more and thus a batter’s skill, temperament and grit are on display.
Also read: IPL 2023: 3 Reasons Why Litton Das Can Have A Good Debut IPL Season For KKR
