Tom Moody, the two-time ICC Cricket World Cup champion, has raised doubts about Suryakumar Yadav’s selection in Team India’s roster for the Asia Cup 2023. The Australian cricketer remarked that Suryakumar Yadav, a standout Indian batsman, is fortunate to secure a spot in the Indian squad for the upcoming continental cricket tournament set to kick off on August 30.
While Suryakumar Yadav has demonstrated remarkable prowess as a top performer for Team India in T20Is since his debut in the abridged format, he has yet to replicate that success in One Day Internationals (ODIs). In the course of his two-year stint in the 50-over format, he has participated in 26 matches, amassing 511 runs at a subpar average of 24.33. Notably, this includes a sequence of three consecutive golden ducks against Australia during the home series in March of this year.
In a recent appearance on Star Sports, Tom Moody promptly highlighted Suryakumar Yadav’s distinct trajectory as a limited-overs player, with divergent outcomes in ODIs and T20Is. As per NDTV Sports, he was quoted as saying, “Suryakumar Yadav is the player I believe is fortunate to secure his place. While he’s an enthralling player to watch, he’s yet to master the nuances of the 50-over game. With more than 20 matches under his belt, his performance has been rather unimpressive.”
Moody continued, recognizing Suryakumar Yadav’s brilliance in T20 cricket but accentuating the dissimilarity of the 50-over format, in which he has yet to excel. “He’s a T20 genius, no doubt. However, the 50-over format is a whole different ball game, and he’s still grappling with its intricacies. I don’t anticipate him suddenly cracking the code in the eleventh hour,” added the 57-year-old.
The former mentor of Sunrisers Hyderabad also proposed that Yashasvi Jaiswal would have represented a superior alternative for the Asia Cup 2023 squad in contrast to Suryakumar Yadav. He expressed his viewpoint, saying, “In my perspective, there exist better alternatives. I would have preferred a younger talent like Jaiswal in that position, or even a wrist spinner. There are other wrist spinners available.”
