India will face Australia on October 8 in their World Cup 2023 opener in Chennai.
Former Indian head coach and cricket commentator Ravi Shastri has finally broken his silence on the debate on who will be in Team India’s playing XI for the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 between Suryakumar Yadav and Shreyas Iyer.
Shastri said that he will be watching Suryakumar very closely, and believes that the right-hander can be an X-factor for the Indian team in the ODI World Cup 2023 and can win matches for the hosts.
Ravi Shastri told ESPNCricinfo: “I'll be watching him closely, very very closely. Because if your top order is firing, 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.”
Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, and Suryakumar are fighting for the number four spot in India’s XI for the upcoming mega event and Shastri backed Surya for the spot as he is a good player of spin and can counter the threat of top spinners in opponent teams.
He further explained, “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. 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.”
Shastri signed off by saying, “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.”
(With ESPNCricinfo Inputs)