Why SKY is important for Team India in the 50-over WC year?

New Delhi: Days after Team India thinktank was criticised for keeping out in-form Suryakumar Yadav from One-day International team, despite his superlative form in the T20I recently, the 32-year-old finally got a look in into the squad against Sri Lanka during the third ODI at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.
The star batter was left out of the first two games in Guwahati and Kolkata.
The Men in Blue changed their line-up twice after the series was over. Along with Suryakumar, the all-rounder Washington Sundar was also selected for the starting XI, while star all-rounder Hardik Pandya and speedster Umran Malik were rested.
While, many expected to see SYK bat much ahead in the batting order, but as it turned out he was sent into bat after 47.5 overs when India lost KL Rahul for seven at the total of 364 for four.
SYK had no time to settle in and could only managed four off as many balls before departing after only five deliveries. Nevertheless, the move by Team India management should be seen as a positive one because of the form that this Mumbaikar is in. He is set to get a longer run in the New Zealand ODIs later, with Rahul missing because of family commitments.
In the nutshell, India defeated Sri Lanka by a record 317 runs in the third and final ODI of the series to win the three-match series 3-0 on Sunday. Former Indian skipper Virat Kohli, who had ended a nearly three-year wait for an international hundred in the Asia Cup last year, scored his 46th ton (unbeaten 166 off 110 balls) in the ODIs.
Young opener Shubman Gill also scored brilliant hundreds (116 off 97 balls) to help India post a huge 390 for five. Pacer Mohammed Siraj (four for 32) then shook the Sri Lankan top order as the hosts bowled out the visitors for just 73 in 22 overs.
The night well and truly belonged to 34-year-old Kohli, who is now only three short of equalling Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 49 ODI centuries.

Why to ignore SKY?

Team India skipper Rohit Sharma provided enough hints before the ODI series against Lanka to explain why SKY cannot play despite his outstanding performance in the shortest white-ball format.
Rohit’s justification came despite the fact that SKY has scored 1,578 runs, averaging 46.41, in 45 T20I games and 43 innings. He has a strike rate of 180.34 in the format and three centuries, thirteen half-centuries. His personal best mark is 117.
It was hardly a week back that SKY scored the second-fastest century by an Indian batsman, taking just 45 balls to earn his third century in the 20-over format. And he was competing against the likes of Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul for his place.
Going by sheer numbers in the ODI cricket, one could say that this 32-year-old Mumbaikar has not done enough to be there — 384 runs in 16 matches at an average of 32 and strike rate of 100.52. Whereas, Iyer has 1537 runs in 39 ODIs at 48.03 and strike rate of 96 before Tuesday to show against his name.
But one should not forget that in cricket it’s the current form that matters more than the past records. How would someone justify that Rahul was preferred over red-hot SKY despite scoring just 251 runs in his last 10 outings at an average of mere 27.88.

Past perfect, future in question

When SKY played against England in March 2021, he was already 30. But it was his determination to reach this level that explains why he continued to score runs in domestic cricket despite the lengthy wait and kept knocking on selectors’ doors.
Another intriguing fact was that SKY had played in 170 T20 matches by the time he made his India T20I debut at the age of 30, which was the most of any player before making his national team. Although it must have been discouraging not to receive the call, his enthusiasm for the game kept him continuing. In his own words, he made an effort to put on a show wherever he played.
This lengthy wait made him hungry after his debut was postponed, but it was the time he spent playing domestic cricket and the IPL that allowed him to master his craft. Despite having a T20I career strike rate of 180, he hardly ever attempts to force the ball. He relies on his strength of timing the ball well and does not really try to hit every ball over the boundary.

Records & consistency

SKY altered the course of history during the third and final T20I of the series against Sri Lanka with his third unbeaten T20I century; the previous two came against England and New Zealand in Nottingham and Mount Maunganui, respectively. He accomplished this feat by being the first player to score 1,500 runs in the shortest format with the fewest balls taken. SKY needs the fewest number of balls of any player — just 843 — to reach this milestone in T20I cricket.
The 32-year-old is the first player in history to reach the feat with a 150 or greater strike rate.
He is the third-fastest player to reach 1,500 runs in T20Is in terms of innings played. Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Aaron Finch, and Babar Azam were the four batsmen to reach the milestone the fastest, each needing 39 innings to make 1,500 runs in T20Is. Mohammed Rizwan of Pakistan, the wicketkeeper, completed the feat in 42 innings, while SKY completed it in 43.

Man for records

Suryakumar has three hundreds in 43 T20I innings, and all three have come while batting No. 3 or lower. And that many centuries have only been scored by only openers who get to play maximum amount of time and deliveries inside the park.
But SKY is different because he finds his rhythm much faster than others. He showed his class by hitting six off his first ball in international cricket, and that’s how his first-ball strike rate stands at 154.55. When compared with others, only Marcus Stoinis (172.73) and James Neesham (156.82) are quicker off the blocks among hitters if a minimum of 100 balls are considered.
But one has to understand that both Stoinis and Neesham bat at No. 5 or lower, where they are expected to throw their bats at anything and everything in T20Is. On the other hand, SKY is always expected to build the innings around him as he comes in at No. 3 or No. 4.
For instance, on Saturday against Sri Lanka, he entered the batting order in the sixth over at No. 4, and with 11 balls remaining in the innings, he still got his century. His nine sixes were the second-most by an Indian batter, trailing only Rohit Sharma’s 10 in Indore.
This Mumbai-hitter manages to pace his innings so quickly despite the high demands that each of his hundreds has only required less than 50 balls. In fact, he had a strike rate of over 200 on eight of his 16 scores of 50 or above. Despite taking extra-ordinary risks and playing premeditated shots on numerous occasions, SKY possesses a sound technique to last longer at any level of international cricket.
That’s why legendary Indian all-rounder Kapil Dev has described Sky as a “once in a century player”.
Kapil went on to say that SKY plays unbelievable shots and he can hit the ball anywhere, an ability that is possessed by very few cricketers. The 1983 World Cup-winning skipper was obviously talking about SKY’s ability to use his wrists in such a fashion that allows him to play 360-degree shots all around the ground.
He has smacked 27 sixes over the fence since making his T20I debut. Mohammad Rizwan comes in second place in that time frame with 13. Only two of those 27 sixes — 25 of which SKY controlled — came off a top edge. After the match, he described how all those shots were “his own”.
SKY has the ability to carve a full delivery over deep third man region, or close them to scoop the same ball over fine-leg. That also helps him find the shortest boundaries around his bat. because the boundaries behind the wickets are actually 50 to 60 yards, depending upon the venue.

Year of ODI World Cup

With the focus now shifting to 50-over cricket because of the upcoming World Cup to be held in India only from October 10 to November 26, 2023, SKY has been in such excellent form this year.
Every cricket fan anticipates that he will continue that form in the ODI format as well. The pressure is on the No. 1 T20I hitter in the world and the leading T20I run scorer of the year to perform well in the 50-over format.
There is no doubt about SKY’s power-hitting, but one has to remember that T20, ODI, and Test cricket are all very different ball games. Success in one format doesn’t mean the batter would deliver the same results in the other format as well.
Given the fact that SKY is a good player of spin bowling, the 32-year-old should be able to make necessary adjustments to his batting style in order to become not just a match-winner in the ODI format but also a permanent member of India’s Test squad in the future.
This is a 50-over World Cup year, so there can be no better time for Yadav to set right his ODI numbers. – INDIA NEWS STREAM

The writer is a senior sports journalist. He can be reached at: shekhar.luthra@gmail.com and @shekharluthra