World Cup 2023: Selecting Suryakumar Yadav ahead of Sanju Samson in India squad justified, says Harbhajan Singh

Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh believes selecting Suryakumar Yadav ahead of Sanju Samson in the World Cup squad is justified. In 26 ODIs, SKY has scored only 511 runs at an average of 24.33 and he hasn’t been able to grab his opportunity in the 50-overs version.

Yadav has been batting at his best in the T20I format and he has shown the skills to turn the match on its head. But SKY is yet to take the ODI format by storm and he will look to deliver the goods in the ODI showpiece.

On the other hand, Sanju Samson has scored 390 runs in 12 ODI matches at an impressive average of 55.71. But he has scored only 374 runs in 24 T20I matches at an average of 19.68 and he hasn’t been able to grab his opportunities.

“Surya should be selected ahead of Sanju Samson. Surya is a complete player. Sanju does not have the middle overs game like that at the moment,” Harbhajan said while speaking to Star Sports.

The Turbanator added that Suryakumar Yadav can turn the match on its head in a matter of 30 balls if he gets going whereas Sanju Samson plays a risky game.

“Samson plays riskier cricket than Surya. Surya will need to bat the exact number of balls like he does in T20. When you bat from the 35th over, you need a game where you can find the gaps in the field, and nobody is better than Surya than doing that. If it were up to me, I would play Surya in every game. He needs just 30 balls to change the game,” Harbhajan said.

Ahead of the Asia Cup, SKY admitted that the ODI format is the most challenging for him as it is important to find the right balance.

“Everyone is saying that ‘T20 is going good for me, both are white ball cricket but why I am not able to crack the code in the 50-over format.’ But, I am doing my practice because according to me, this format is the most challenging one. The reason behind this is because here you have to play like the other 3 formats. First by setting down with calmness and composure, then rotating the strike well, followed by at last the T20 gameplay,” Suryakumar Yadav had told Star Sports.

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

India’s Squad for ODI World Cup 2023: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (VC), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah.