'You Don't Lose Your Talent Overnight': Mark Waugh Calls Suryakumar Yadav Good Enough to be a ODI Player

Former Australia batter Mark Waugh heaped praise on Suryakumar Yadav and said he is good enough to be a 50-over player. Suryakumar, who is ranked 1 in ICC T20I batting charts, has not been able to make an impact in ODIs thus far. However, the flamboyant batter scored a sensible half-century against Australia in the first ODI to justify his place in the ODI World Cup squad. In 28 ODIs, Surya has scored 587 runs at an average of 25.52.

Meanwhile, Surya broke the duck streak against Australia on Friday and played with a sense of responsibility during the 277-run chase. The 33-year-old registered a hat-trick of ducks in the three-match ODI series against Australia which was played in March earlier this year.

However, he showed maturity during his knock on Friday and took his time to get set before playing the aerial shots.

Waugh suggested that Suryakumar has all the credentials to be a 50-over player as it is quite similar to the T20 format which he has already mastered.

“It’s not about those ducks. All those things that people have been talking about, stuff like ‘is he just a T20 player? Is he good enough to be a 50-overs player?’. He sure is, you don’t lose your talent overnight. There are similar basics in T20 cricket and 50-over cricket. Hit the ball, run hard, put the bad ball away, he can do all those things really well,” Mark Waugh told JioCinema.

“It’s just a matter of him breaking free and not worrying about getting out. That’s the one thing that always holds batters back — thinking about getting out. If you can not think about that, then your natural instincts will take over and he will be fine,” he added.

During the same discussion former India cricketer Abhishek Nayar suggested that the backing from team management also boosted Surya’s confidence which allowed him to play freely.

“That also tells you the environment in the team. A lot of times, when you go back to the dugout, the coach and the captain, when they put that sort of trust in you. We saw Rahul Dravid speak in the press conference of how much confidence they had in Suryakumar, that they are going to back him just feel that Suryakumar having that (backing) gives him the confidence to play his natural game,” Nayar said.