West Indies legendary batsman Brian Lara has revealed that Suryakumar Yadav, whose remarkable performance in the Indian Premier League for Mumbai Indians has been praised by many, should be part of India’s squad for the tour of Australia.
Suryakumar scored 480 runs in 16 matches at a strike rate of 145.01 in the 13th edition of the IPL, playing a crucial role in the Mumbai Indians’ record fifth title win. In the previous editions, the Mumbai Indians batsman scored 512 and 424 runs in 2018 and 2019 respectively. Apart from the IPL, the 30-year-old has scored 5,326 runs at an average of 44.01 in 77 first-class matches and 3,492 runs from 165 T20s games averaging at 32.33.
He was excluded from the national side for the tour of Australia, inviting the ire of many experts, cricket pundits and fans.
Calling Suryakumar a “class player”, Lara said that he didn’t see any reason why he was not part of the Indian squad.
“Yeah, definitely. He’s a class player. I don’t just look at players that score runs, I look at their technique, capabilities under pressure, positions that they’re batting and for me, Suryakumar Yadav has done such a wonderful job for Mumbai,” Lara said on the Star Sports show Cricket Connected.
“He comes to bat on the back of Rohit Sharma, and Quinton de Kock and every time, they are under pressure, he comes in at No. 3. Just remember, your No. 3 batsmen, other than the openers, the No. 3 batsman in any cricket team is normally your best player, your most reliable player. And for me, he has been that for Mumbai Indians and I see no reason why, looking at the squad, he can’t be a part of it,” he added.
The Indian team is currently in Australia ahead of the tour, which starts on Friday. India and Australia will play three ODIs and T20Is each before the Test series starting December 17.
