Is SYK’s ODI career over in the World Cup year?

New Delhi: The No. 1 batter in T20 cricket, Suryakumar Yadav, has a humiliating record on record. SKY, as he is popularly called, has once again suffered the consequences of a duck in the final game of the three-match ODI series against Australia last week at the Chepauk Stadium in Chennai where India suffered 1-2 loss in three-match series.
Ashton Agar, a spinner, dismissed Virat Kohli (54) on the first ball of the 29th over. SKY was then bowled as soon as he faced the first ball after entering the field. This was his third consecutive hat-trick (third game on a trot where he got out on first ball), ending the series with a final score of naught in three balls.

This has happened for the sixth time so far in the history of ODI cricket from India. The 32-year-old was dismissed on the very first ball without opening the account in the two matches before this match. Then on both occasions fast bowler Mitchell Starc was dismissed. With this, Suryakumar Yadav has become the sixth Indian batsman to get zero out in three consecutive ODIs. This is such a record, which no batsman would like to have in his name.

But he is also not the only one in this dubious group. Maestro Sachin Tendulkar got three zeros in 1994 whereas Anil Kumble (1996), Zaheer Khan (2003-04), Ishant Sharma (2010-11) and Jasprit Bumrah (2017-2019) were the other Indians giving him company.

Despite only having played 23 ODIs, SKY has managed 433 runs at an average of 24.06, with just two half-centuries. He has three T20 hundreds, but none of them have come in ODIs. The BCCI consistently assigns him to ODI matches. He is viewed as Shreyas Iyer’s rival, although SKY’s performance thus far demonstrates Iyer’s superiority.
Only 110 runs have been scored in his last 11 ODI innings, none of which have been centuries. On Wednesday also against Australia, which was to be India’s last international assignment before the cash rich Indian Premier League, SKY was demoted in the batting line-up as he didn’t come out to bat at his usual No. 4 spot in India’s 270-run chase against Australia.
He was sent out to bat at number seven after the dismissal of Virat Kohli, who scored 54 off 72 runs in the 36th over with India reduced to 185 for five.

It was a perfect opportunity for him to get back to his usual form and produce a match-winning knock for the hosts. Having series tied at 1-1, the decider was an opportunity for this Mumbaikar to re-establish his name as the most sought after player in white ball cricket.
However, that wasn’t the case as he failed to deliver once again. The right-hander was bowled on the very first ball he faced from Agar. It was a quick length ball from Agar which skidded on and SKY was beaten completely as he tried to defend it on the back foot.

What next?

One of the T20 and white ball stars, SKY who is known for his creative and unconventional stroke play was unfortunate to not get any chance to settle down there in the middle.
Like many great players in the past, he has the skills and ability to get out of this slump. He will have the ideal setting in the IPL, his favourite format where no one can match his skills, to regain his mojo and finally put an end to his disappointing performances against Australia.

In fact, he should go and speak to 1983 World Cup winning star Mohinder Amarnath, who experienced even a more dubious run in the 80s. The hero of India’s first ever WC triumph, Amarnath’s case was one of its kind. In the 1984 Test series against West Indies at home, Amarnath’s form deserted him completely as he scored 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0 in the 6 innings he played in that series.
He was never the same batsman again, falling thrice to express bowler Malcolm Marshall.
In 69 Tests, he scored 4378 runs at an impressive average of 42.50 and ended his career with 11 Test hundreds out of which nine came in overseas Tests. But due to his inconsistency and technical weaknesses, he also had to welcome 12 ducks in his Test career.
Out of those 12 ducks, five were scored against West Indies in 1984 in six innings. These five zeroes in six innings were responsible for his nickname ‘Mr Amarnought’.

SKY needs to meet up with Amarnath, as his words of wisdom from India’s most valiant and tenacious cricketer would be of great assistance to him in overcoming any potential mental obstacles. And with IPL round the corner, starting on March 31, it would be just the right step for SKY to get back into top gear and bury his failed performances against Australia for good.
He can still lay claim to being a member of an elite group of batters competing for the title of greatest T20I batter of all time because that skill has consistently shown up in T20Is. However, it must be kept in mind that he spent years developing that particular technique in the IPL and on the home circuit in India before becoming such a master of it.

One area where SKY has been lacking ever since he got an international call to play for Team India is that he has not played enough domestic cricket to rectify any of his mistakes, as and when it was required. In fact, he has played just 32 List A games since 2020. Nine of those were local List A games; the other eight were international contests.
In contrast, Amarnath had many big domestic knocks written against his names as and when he used to be dropped from the national team. Even stylist VVS Laxman used to force back his way to the national team by scoring big hundreds or double hundreds in domestic circuit. This was considered to be an important factor for any player to get rid of any technical deficiencies in his batting those days.

But the packed international schedule now, along with IPL’s obligations, has made it almost impossible for any big star to go back to the basics in order to find his rhythm back. On his day, SKY can tear apart any bowling attack in the world. More so in the T20s where he can utilise his entire battery of strokes. His innovative and improvised strokes make it difficult for any opponent captain to set field for him.

Can he strike back?

One has to understand that ODIs and T20s are two different formats. In T20s, bowlers typically are willing to defend and restrict the runs they give up rather than putting wickets first. With two fresh balls for ODIs, they tend to be more aggressive, like Mitchell Starc was in Mumbai and Visakhapatnam. While batters do not need to drastically alter their approach, it does take some time for them to become used to the adjustment.
With India slated to host the ODI World Cup later this year, there has been call from some quarters to test another stroke player Sanju Samson, the wicket-keeper batter from Kerala. In fact, a large number of Samson supporters have been mocking SKY on the social media for his latest failure.

There is no doubt the Samson is a fine talent and cannot be ignored for any longer. But that may not be at the cost of this Mumbaikar, who has been hailed as successor to South African legend AB de Villiers for his improvisations in batting.
It was not long ago that SKY won player of the series honours in his first away ODI assignment against Sri Lanka. His batting has improved significantly since then and there is no reason to think that he cannot break the ODI code again. Having him at No. 4 with such vast variety of shots could well be a X-factor for Team India.
For this, Indian team management must be willing to give him the needed confidence, giving him the freedom to attack irrespective of the consequences!

—-INDIA NEWS STREAM