Suryakumar Yadav had a brilliant performance in 2022 as the middle-order batsman scored 1164 runs in 31 T20I innings. His approach was such that fans started comparing him to South African legend AB de Villiers for his innovative batting. Suryakumar also managed two centuries and nine half-centuries in the shorter format as the strike tally almost touched 190.
In recognition of Suryakumar’s heroics, he was rightly awarded the ICC Player of the Year on Wednesday. While Suryakumar has asserted his authority in the shorter format, he will now be hoping to do the same in the longer format.
Suryakumar has been included in the squad for the first two Tests against Australia starting on February 9 in Nagpur. Suryakumar is yet to feature in Tests but when Rishabh Pant fell ill after a horrific car accident, he was seen filling the void and KL Rahul can take care of the wicket keeping duties.
Sharing his views on the same, former Indian cricketer Suresh Raina appreciated Suryakumar’s wide range of shots and backed him to give him playing time in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar series.
“The way he is performing, I think he should play in all three formats and without him all three formats should not even exist. The way he played, the way he shows intent, the way he plans different shots, he also plays fearlessly and knows how to use the size of the ground,” Raina remarked during an interaction with Aakash Chopra on Viacom18 Sports.
“He is a Mumbai player and knows how to play red ball cricket. I think he has a great chance – playing Test cricket will give him more establishment in ODIs as well as some stability. He scores a few hundreds and then two hundreds,” he added.
The upcoming series will be keenly watched by the cricket enthusiast as it will decide India’s fate at the World Test Championship (WTC). India are currently second in the WTC table behind Australia and a series win will help them cement their place in the race for the top spot.
