'He can wait that bit longer' - Shastri wants Suryakumar Yadav to show more patience in ODIs
A destroyer of opposition attacks in T20Is, Suryakumar Yadav hasn't quite warmed up to the ODI game since his debut. The aggressive and adventurous right-hander has a middling record to his name after 15 innings: while he has a strike rate of 100.52, his average is a measly 32.
During the just concluded ODI series in New Zealand, the middle-order batter made an encouraging 34* off 25 in the second game in Hamilton. But his scores either side of that were 4 off 3 in Auckland and 6 off 10 in Christchurch.
Given the skill he possesses, there should really no issues for Suryakumar Yadav to be nailing the 50-overs game, too. Thus, former India head coach Ravi Shastri believes the player's struggles in what is still the early part of his ODI career are more down to the lack of application and patience shown at the crease.
Shastri opined Suryakumar needs to bide more time in the middle before exploding in the longer version of the white-ball game, recognising there are nearly twice the number of balls available to be scored off in the ODI format than T20Is.
Shastri on Suryakumar's ODI troubles
"What he can learn is that this is two-and-a-half time the size of a T20 game. He has got that many more balls to play. He can wait that bit longer," said Shastri for Amazon Prime Video.
"His USP is total devastation towards the end of the innings. He has got ample time to reach 30-40 before that with a lot more number of balls. So, in his case, it's about giving himself that extra bit of time."
"That impact quality that is needed can wait a little bit because this game is a little bit longer. And then the conditions. At times, you might be in the best form of your life but you have got to respect the condition."
"This is a great game. It doesn't wait for anyone. You don't respect the conditions, sooner or later, you will come back to respect it," he added.
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Having been part of the lengthy build-up to the T20 World Cup in Australia, to which this hastily arranged trip to New Zealand was adjoined, Suryakumar Yadav now has time up his sleeves to assess his ODI game as the focus shifts to the 2023 World Cup on Indian shores.
Shastri said not being part of the looming three-match series in Bangladesh gives the player time to understand what he needs to change about his approach towards 50-overs cricket.
"It's nothing major. It's just a change in the mindset of the length of the game and the number of deliveries he has got to play. When you play in the sub-continent, normally if he goes to bat, he will be doing it at No. 5 when the score would be nice and high more often than not. And then he can make an impact straightaway."
"In conditions that suit his batting, the bowlers don't have much on offer so you can change it. But here, adjustment needs to be made. And he would learn from it. He is a smart cricketer. We have seen that with the way he improvises so this is not difficult for him," Shastri added.