Don’t compare Surya with Sanju Samson, it doesn’t seem right – Kapil Dev backs Team India’s decision to back Suryakumar Yadav

Former Indian World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev has backed the team’s decision to persist with Suryakumar Yadav in ODIs despite his low returns in the recent past. Yadav was dismissed for three golden ducks in the three-match ODI series against Australia and bagged an unwanted record in International cricket to become the first batter to do so.

However, Kapil Dev feels it doesn’t seem right to compare Suryakumar Yadav with Sanju Samson. Samson was not part of the ODI series squad against Australia.

Samson has scored 330 runs in 11 ODI matches at an average of 66 and he deserves his chances in the 50-overs version. On the other hand, Suryakumar Yadav has failed to grab his opportunities in the ODI format as he has scored only 433 runs in 22 ODI matches at an average of 25.47.

Kapil Dev said on ABP News: “A cricketer who has played so well will always get more chances. Don’t compare Surya with Sanju Samson, it doesn’t seem right. If Sanju goes through a bad phase then you will talk about somebody else.”

“This should not happen. If the team management has decided to back Suryakumar Yadav then he should be given more chances. Yes, people will talk, give their opinion but ultimately it’s the management’s call,” he added.

Meanwhile, Axar Patel and Hardik Pandya were promoted ahead of Suryakumar Yadav in the third ODI and the Mumbai batter was demoted to number seven to give him a chance to play the finisher role.

“It’s very easy to talk after the match is finished. Maybe the idea behind sending Suryakumar at No.7 was to give him an opportunity as a finisher. This (shuffling of the batting order) is nothing new in ODIs.”

“This has happened many times before. Yes, at times it can happen that a batter’s confidence is dented if he has been dragged down the order. But the onus rests on the player to tell his captain that ‘I can handle myself in the top order.’ The coach and captain must have taken the decision with particular thinking,” Kapil added further.

India will play 11 ODIs before the World Cup and they would want to solve their middle-order woes prior to the showpiece event.