Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif has lent his support to star batsman Suryakumar Yadav following a barren run in white-ball cricket of late.
Suryakumar has managed just 16 runs in three matches in IPL 2023 so far. He was dismissed for a golden duck in his last innings against the Delhi Capitals while the Mumbai Indians chased 173 at Arun Jaitley Stadium.
This comes after the Indian batsman added an unwanted record by recording three golden ducks during the three-match ODI series against Australia last month.
Speaking exclusively for Sportskeeda’s special weekend show ‘SK Match Ki Baat’, Mohammad Kaif explained why Mumbai Indians should stick with Suryakumar Yadav.
Kaif told Sportskeeda:
“Even if Suryakumar Yadav makes 12 ducks, it’s forgivable. He’s the kind of player you can still give a chance to. It doesn’t matter.”
The former Indian cricketer recalled Suryakumar Yadav’s explosive strikes against England and New Zealand last year, which were his first two centuries in international cricket.
Kaif added:
“What he did in England and New Zealand makes the bowlers freak out while playing him. So four ducks is nothing to him.”
Former Pakistani fast bowler Wasim Akram had similar thoughts for the Mumbai-based batsman amid a brief slump. Akram believes that the MI team management must back their match winner at all costs.
akram said:
“Look, he (Suryakumar Yadav) is a great player and everyone knows it. A hitter can’t be out of shape because if you’re out of shape you tend to defend the first two deliveries and don’t go after hitting. With Suryakumar, the form is temporary and the class is permanent. I understand that he faced problems on One-Days, but don’t worry, as the hitter goes through that phase.”
added:
“Here the team management is going to have to back him up and tell him that you are our game winner. I’m sure that guy has the ability to win the game himself and he will win a game that will look like an incredible performance.”
“I want Ricky Ponting and Sourav Ganguly to repeat the same with David Warner” – Mohammad Kaif
David Warner has earned the added responsibility of the Delhi Capitals captaincy this season in the absence of regular captain Rishabh Pant.
Though Warner is the team’s leading run-scorer in all four of his games with 208 runs, concerns regarding his batting rate (114.84) have something for the Capitals think tank to be wary of.
While chasing 200 against the Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati last week, Warner made 65 off 55 balls. He followed that up with a 47-ball 51 against the Mumbai Indians at home.
Citing the example of Shikhar Dhawan in IPL 2019, Mohammad Kaif, who was the assistant coach of Delhi Capitals at the time, narrated:
“When I was with Delhi (in a coaching role), Shikhar Dhawan came in as a new member. All of us, including Ricky Ponting and Sourav Ganguly, asked Shikhar to increase his hitting rate and play fast. So he went from hitting to 120 to 132-135”.
Warner added:
“So I want Ricky Ponting and Dada (Ganguly) to repeat the same thing to David Warner. ‘Look boss, we want you to play a certain way as captain.’ Tell him to play the shots instead of building the innings.”
Delhi Capitals will play their next IPL 2023 match against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Bengaluru on Saturday afternoon (April 15).