World Cup 2023: He can win you a game – Ravi Shastri backs X-factor Suryakumar Yadav

Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri has backed Suryakumar Yadav to deliver the goods for the team in the upcoming ODI World Cup 2023. Shastri feels SKY could be India’s X-factor in the ODI showpiece. Yadav has shown the skills to turn the match on its head with his pyrotechnics and thus he was backed by the selectors for World Cup selection despite low returns in the ODI format.

However, SKY was able to grab his chance in the three-match ODI series against Australia. The right-hander from Mumbai scored 50 runs off 49 balls in the opening ODI and then smashed a whirlwind knock of 37-ball 72 in the second game to add the finishing touches.

Shastri reckons Suryakumar Yadav can take the game away from the opposition with his blistering batting while batting alongside Hardik Pandya. However, SKY is expected to stay on the bench for the initial matches.

“I’ll be watching him closely, very very closely. Because if your top order is firing, so you have 6-7-8 players, you will play him or Shreyas Iyer at this moment. But if all the batters are getting runs then that guy becomes the X factor in a big game, he can win you a game. Because at 6-7-8, the damage he can do with Hardik, they can just take the game away from the opposition in the last 6-7 overs. So that X factor you gotta think of, I can imagine that your batting is struggling but it’s not the case,” Shastri told ESPNCricinfo.

Shastri feels if India will be playing on a featherbed, then he will think of adding Suryakumar Yadav to the final XI. If the track is tricky, then Shastri wants the team management to back other batters.

“And in Indian conditions, very rarely it will struggle. You know you expect 1-2-3-4 – one hundred. He will always be in my 12. You have to see the conditions. A real flat track – I would think of Surya. Because you expect the other 3-4 to get runs. If it’s (conditions are) tough, tricky, or seaming then maybe you don’t know. You have 5 proper batters, all five similar, instead of that have one X-factor – could be a left-hander, could be a Surya,” Shastri added.

SKY scored 130 runs in three matches against Australia and the two half-centuries must have given him a lot of confidence.

India will begin their World Cup campaign against Australia at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on 8th October.