India vs England: Should Suryakumar Yadav Play Ahead Of Shreyas Iyer In India’s T20I side?
The long, painful wait for Suryakumar Yadav is over. The national selectors have finally rewarded the Mumbaikar with his maiden India call-up, picking him for the T20I series against England.
Such has been the quality of his performances recently that many feel the Mumbai Indians batsman should definitely feature in the starting XI.
That, however, might not happen immediately as Shreyas Iyer poses a direct challenge to Suryakumar for the No.4 spot in India’s T20I outfit.
Surya Kumar Yadav of Mumbai Indians after winning the match 48 of season 13 of the Dream 11 Indian Premier League (IPL) between the Mumbai Indians and the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates on the 28th October 2020. Photo by: Vipin Pawar / Sportzpics for BCCI
Despite suggestions from outside that Iyer’s overall game isn’t suited for the middle-order duties assigned to him in T20Is, the team management has kept its trust on the right-hander.
But is Iyer a player who can keep an ever-improving Suryakumar out of the side?
It is in the previous edition of the IPL in UAE where Suryakumar really strengthened his case for India selection, whereas his direct competitor struggled. He made 480 runs at a fantastic strike-rate of 145.02 while averaging 40 from 15 innings. And though Iyer managed to more put runs on the board, they came at a significantly lower strike-rate: 519 runs at 123.27 with an average of 34.60.
It wasn’t a one-off season for Iyer, either, as his strike-rate in the previous two editions of the IPL also wasn’t great, whereas Suryakumar’s game has been enjoying an upward curve on that front. It’s purely down to the fact that the latter has taken his range to another level in this period when Iyer’s issues against both pace and spin have held him back.
As numbers reinforce, Suryakumar overshadowed Iyer in the middle-overs of the IPL 2020. Even against what is considered Iyer’s strength: batting against spin. Interestingly, Iyer has a better strike-rate against pacers than Suryakumar in the middle phase but to inch past here, he has had to also hit more boundaries, or basically taken more chances. He got out to pace five times in the middle-overs of IPL 2020, while Suryakumar was dismissed only three times.
Through the IPL 2019 and 2020, Suryakumar has clearly emerged as the more rounded T20 batsman in the middle-overs of an innings. Someone who doesn’t have any negative impact on his team’s fortunes, as he doesn’t have to compromise his strike-rate for greater consistency.
Also, once past the middle phase and ready to unleash his wrath on the opposition in the death overs, it is Suryakumar who once again powers over Iyer. Because of their contrasting approaches, the former hasn’t faced death-overs bowling as much as Iyer has. But when he does, he scores more runs per over than Iyer without being dismissed as frequently.
T20 cricket is a fast-evolving game. Teams look to gain an edge over the opposition through tactics. We’ve seen IPL sides identifying and employing their best match-ups to try and put the breakers on opposition batting units or to maximise the quota of overs themselves. These match-ups only make it tougher for a batsman to execute his skill and plans at different stages.
When examined on that front, it’s again Suryakumar Yadav who passes with flying colours as he retains potency against most kinds of bowling.
The deeper one studies their cases, the stronger a middle-order option Suryakumar looks. But would India be willing to break their hierarchy for him?
Also Read: Suryakumar, Ishan receive call-up as BCCI announce squad for England T20Is