Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir scored a match-winning 97 runs against Sri Lanka in the ICC ODI World Cup 2011 final in India and helped his side to win trophy after 28 years.
New Delhi: Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir has expressed his thoughts on World No.1 T20I batter Suryakumar Yadav’s batting position. Gambhir feels that Men in Blue needs to bat SKY at no.7 if they want him to play in the playing XI for the upcoming edition of the ODI World Cup 2023 which is going to start on October 5.
The Mumbai Indians (MI) star batter finally came at his very best in the 50-over format where he scored a match-winning 50 runs off 49 balls against five-time World Cup champions Australia in the first ODI match in Mohali, on Friday.
Suryakumar was selected in the 15-member ODI World Cup squad, despite his poor form in the ODI format. The decision was backed by the Indian management time and time again. The management backed Yadav’s skills even though he was not in good form.
In a recent interaction with Star Sports, the 2011 World Cup winner said that SKY’s best will come when he is asked to bat in a situation that is similar in T20 cricket which is just 15-20 overs over remaining.
Also, Gambhir said that the Rohit Sharma-led side can hold Suryakumar and should promote hard hitters Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya ahead of him.
“If Suryakumar Yadav is in your first playing XI, then I would want him to bat at 6-7, but the big question will then be who will bat at No. 5. Then Jadeja can bat at No. 5, Hardik at 6, and Suryakumar as finisher where he can bat in the final 15-20 overs,” Gautam Gambhir said.
“But it will be a huge gamble deciding whether you want Jadeja at No. 5 and Suryakumar, in the form that he is in ODI cricket, at No. 7. This would put a lot of responsibility on the top four,” 2007 T20I World Cup winner said.
The Indian side is currently playing a three-match series against Australia and all eyes will be on Surykumar Yadav’s performance as he is an integral part of the World Cup 2023 squad. Men in Blue lead the series by 1-0 against Aussies.