Suryakumar Yadav will be under the scanners in ODI series against Australia (AP Image)
Rahul Dravid has confirmed that Suryakumar Yadav will be playing in the first two ODIs against Australia.
Team India head coach Rahul Dravid has once again backed Suryakumar Yadav and confirmed that he will be part of India’s final World Cup squad. The flamboyant batter’s ODI form has become a bit of concern for the Indian team ahead of the World Cup. Suryakumar has played 27 ODIs thus far and scored just 537 runs at an underwhelming average of 24.41. The three-match ODI series against Australia is going to be a litmus test for Suryakumar to make a statement before the mega ICC event.
Dravid has confirmed that Suryakumar will be playing in the first two games against Australia as some key players including Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya have been rested and will return in the third ODI.
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“We have picked our team for World Cup, Surya is in it. We have completely backed him. He will certainly get the first two games,” Rahul Dravid said in the press conference ahead of the first ODI.
Suryakumar has to fight for a spot in India’s middle order with Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer as at the moment the duo are ahead in the race.
The flamboyant Mumbaikar also has a terrible ODI record against Australia with three ducks in as many matches which happened earlier this year in March.
Meanwhile, Dravid also talked about Kohli and Rohit getting rested for the first two ODIs against Australia.
“We want to get Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma physically and mentally the shape they want to be in before the first game of the World Cup,” Dravid added.
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Talking about flexibility in the batting order, Dravid indicated that India might use Ishan Kishan as an opener in the first two ODIs.
We would ideally want to play our batters for WC in their usual positions. Ishan Kishan, however, gives us that flexibility. He can bat at top and in middle-order too,” added Dravid on the possibility of Kishan opening in the first two matches of the series.
