Aakash Chopra wants Indian team to stick with Suryakumar Yadav despite his failures in recent times, expects Hardik Pandya to also step up

Suryakumar Yadav is going through a phase of struggle in ODI cricket. He was removed by Mitchell Starc twice for a duck in consecutive matches. While fans are going haywire over his selection and poor run of form, former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra wants Rohit Sharma to persist with Yadav in the third and final ODI in Chennai.

While analyzing the third ODI, Chopra opined that India should stick with Yadav in the middle order and the captain should give him complete confidence des[pite his performances in recent times.

“The question was whether Suryakumar Yadav should be kept at No. 4 or No. 5. For now, you have to give Surya a complete vote of confidence, which the captain will give as well. You have given him two innings, if he got out two times, so be it. He has not scored runs in the last 10 innings – it is fact,” he opined.

Chopra feels that once you pick a player, you should back him completely. Hence he believes that India should give Yadav the freedom to express himself at no.4. “However, once you believe in someone, give him the full chance. So if we picked you for No. 4 at the start, we are keeping you at No. 4 now also. You go and negotiate because if you don’t do well here, then we will start thinking of something else,” he added.

Yadav has failed to replicate his exceptional T20 form in ODIs. In 22 ODIs, he has amassed 433 runs at an poor average of 25.. His average this year is even worse, he averages a paltry 9.80 in five innings in 2023.

Apart from this Chopra also shares that he wants to see Hardik Pandya taking up more responsibility with the bat and ball. It hasn’t been a great series for the Indian all-rounder and hence Chopra expects himn to step up in the decider.

“Hardik Pandya the batter has to come to the fore because you expect more from him. The series has been extremely lukewarm based on his standards. Mitchell Marsh went after him in the one over he bowled in the last match as though there was some personal enmity,” he added.

Overall, Indian batting lineup will have to step up if they want to win the decider in Chepauk. The pitch will have something for the bowlers and especially the likes of Adam Zampa and Glenn Maxwell with get some purchase but before that they will have to deal with the Mitchell Starc with the new ball.