On Monday afternoon, The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced its 17-member squad for the Asia Cup 2023 starting later this month. There were some surprising names included as well as excluded from the squad. The inclusion of Suryakumar Yadav in the squad has raised few eyebrows.
According to former Australian all-rounder Tom Moody, SKY is 'lucky' to have found a place in the squad for Asia Cup 2023.
The likes of Yuzvendra Chahal and Yashasvi Jaiswal were not included in the squad. While analysing India's squad for the Asia Cup, Moody claimed that Suryakumar is yet to peak in the ODI format, despite his blistering form in T20Is.
"The player that I think is lucky to be in that side is Suryakumar Yadav. I know that he's a player that we all love to watch, but he is yet to really master the 50-over game. I think he's played over 20 matches now and at a very modest return. He's a genius in T20 cricket. But the 50-over cricket is a completely different format, and he's yet to really crack the code for that. You know, I just don't think he's gonna do it at the last minute," Moody said on Star Sports.
The 57-year-old also suggested that a player like Jaiswal or an extra wrist spinner could have found a spot in the squad in place of Suryakumar.
"And to me, there are better options. Uh, available. Uh, I would have much rather seen a younger player like a Jaiswal in that side. Or take that position, and play a wrist spinner. Um, you know another wrist spinner," he added.
So far, Suryakumar Yadav has played in 26 ODI matches and scored a total of 511 runs in 24 innings, averaging 24.33.
India squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya (VC), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.
