“Not concerned about Suryakumar Yadav..” – Team coach dismisses skipper’s poor form worries

The Ind vs Eng T20Is have certainly raised a question — what was the need to include keeper Dhruv Jurel in the team? Another question that arose from the Rajkot match was — why did the Agra player bat at No. 8, when the team was losing wickets at regular intervals? Even the likes of Washington Sundar and Axar Patel batted ahead of him.

Dhruv Jurel Mystery Solved

But then India assistant coach Ryan Ten Doeschate has answered that. During a press conference, he revealed that it was down to India’s strategy of maintaining the left-right combination throughout. “You could argue we don’t want Dhruv Jurel batting at No. 8,” ten Doeschate said.

“I also think if you look at the blueprint of any of Gauti’s [head coach Gautam Gambhir] teams since he has been coaching T20 cricket, it is a big part of how he likes the set-up. The other night, with Dhruv coming in at No. 8, we obviously did not get to see the best of him. But we do believe that it’s a big part of strategy in these games.”

One other concern in the team has been about skipper Suryakumar Yadav’s own form, where he has scored only 52 runs in the last six outings. Commenting on that, Doeschate made it clear, that given the high-risk cricket the team plays, a few failures are bound to come a player’s way.

“Someone like Surya has set such high standards [set] by himself, and I wouldn’t say consistency or predictability is a particularly high marker in T20 cricket,” ten Doeschate said. “The job we ask from these guys is to go out and score really quickly and the way the international T20 game has gone, we are allowed for a bit of inconsistency and a lean patch like he is going through at the moment.”

Surya Best in the World

The coach further substantiated his point by saying, that Surya is only couple of shots away from regaining form, and is the best batsman not only in India, but in the world.

“We always look at how guys are training, how guys are playing in the nets; he played two lovely shots the other night which made me think he’s back – one on the leg side and one on the off side. I don’t think it’s far away. I know he is captain of the team but just in general, Gauti is keen to back these guys and give them a long rope to prove themselves. He is one of the best batters in the world, let alone this Indian team. Certainly not concerned about him, he is a couple of shots away from being back on track and back in form.”