E-Paper
Sign in
'AB de Villiers, if you are listening, help me...': Suryakumar's desperate call for redemption as World Cup hopes fade
Suryakumar Yadav sent a heartfelt plea to AB de Villiers, seeking guidance to revive his ODI career and keep his World Cup hopes alive.
If there’s one player who has come closest to matching AB de Villiers’ 360-degree batting in white-ball cricket, it’s Suryakumar Yadav. His flair made him a sensation, and his stellar IPL numbers paved the way to the Indian team, which he now captains in T20Is. Yet, the India skipper has never met the South African legend. But he hopes to meet him sooner than later, as Suryakumar has just one simple message for him - a desperate plea to save his ODI career.
Following his rise as a T20I sensation and his dominance in the ICC ranking charts, the Indian team management backed Suryakumar Yadav in the ODI format. They wanted him to bring his T20I flair to 50-over cricket as a lower-middle-order batter and act as a finisher. In 2021, he made his debut in the format, with India backing him for the 2023 ODI World Cup at home.
Even when there were early signs that the plan had backfired, India remained unfazed. In his first 30 matches, he scored just four fifties, none of which came during the World Cup. Overall, he scored 773 runs in 37 matches at an average of 25.76, with a strike rate of 105.02.
ALSO READ: Beyond BCCI’s cash prize: Diamond jewellery, solar panels and more rewards pour in for India’s World Cup winners
Following the heartbreaking loss in the World Cup final at home, Suryakumar was never recalled for the ODI format, and he remained a specialist in the T20I format.
Speaking to journalist Vimal Kumar on his YouTube channel, Suryakumar said that if he ever got the chance to meet De Villiers in person, he would want to know how he had balanced his T20I and ODI careers together. "If I meet him soon, then I would like to ask him how he managed to balance his T20I and ODI games. I haven't been able to do so. I thought ODIs should be played like T20Is. I want to ask him what he did to be successful in both formats," he said.
When the anchor promised him that he would pass on the message to the former South Africa batter, Suryakumar faced the camera and called for help from De Villiers, saying that he still has time left in his career to revive his game to meet the demands of ODI cricket and probably even force a way into the World Cup team.
"AB, if you are listening to this, please get in touch with me quickly because there are important three-four years lying ahead for me. I’m very keen on playing ODI cricket also. Please help me! I couldn’t balance T20Is and ODIs," he added.
Suryakumar is presently in Australia for the ongoing five-match T20I series, where India will be looking to take a lead in the fourth game on Thursday in Queensland.
