Suryakumar Yadav is such a multi-dimensional player: Saba Karim
Aug 26, 2022
New Delhi [India], August 26 : Ahead of the blockbuster clash between the arch-rivals India and Pakistan, former national selector Saba Karim said that star India batsman Suryakumar Yadav is such a multi-dimensional player and he can bat anywhere in the batting order.
In 23 T20I matches, Suryakumar has smashed 672 runs at an average of 37.33 with five fifties and a recent hundred - 117 in a closely-fought match against England at The Oval.
India will be starting its Asia Cup campaign with a high-octane clash against Pakistan on August 28.
"Suryakumar Yadav is such a multi-dimensional player, I can keep him as a floater. I can push him up the order, if my two openers bat say till the 7th-8th over, I can push in SKY then. Or in case it is required, I can also push him down the order because he's such a player who can give me the value at whatever number he bats and I'm looking at my 4-5-6 as floaters. I will in fact keep Rishabh Pant very handy. Because if I feel that I need to push in a left-hander at the top of the order, I can do that as well. But as of now my fixed 3 positions at the top would be Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli," said Saba Karim on SPORTS18's daily sports news show 'SPORTS OVER THE TOP.'
Asia Cup 2022 will be played in UAE, starting from August 27 through September 11.
Karim further talked about the Indian top order and said that he is hoping that experienced players will do well against big teams like Pakistan.
"My top order is captain Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli. And I'm backing experience to do well against a big team like Pakistan and also in an important tournament like Asia Cup. I can understand that Virat Kohli has struggled with form. KL Rahul, would love to see him get more runs but I still feel that both Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, if they undergo 2-3 good practice sessions, I'm sure they'll get back to form at the right time for India," he added.
The 15th edition of the tournament will be played in the UAE between six teams (main event). Defending champions India are also the most successful team, having won the trophy seven times. While the last edition of the tournament was held in an ODI format, this edition will feature the T20 format.
The six teams are divided into two groups with India, Pakistan and a qualifying team in Group A; and Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan forming Group B. Each team plays the other once in the group stage with the top two teams from each group advancing to the Super 4 round. The top 2 teams from Super 4 will qualify for the final.
India squad for Asia Cup: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Deepak Hooda, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan.