India’s veteran opener Shikhar Dhawan has backed Suryakumar Yadav to deliver the goods in Test matches. SKY recently made his Test debut in the opening Test match of the series against Australia at Indore but he was dismissed for only eight runs in the first innings.
Subsequently, the right-hander could not grab his opportunity in the ODI series. He was dismissed for three golden ducks in all three ODI matches and thus became the first batter to achieve the unwanted record.
SKY has performed consistently in the T20I format but he is yet to take his chances in the ODI and Test versions of the game.
The 32-year-old has scored 433 runs in 23 ODI matches at an average of 24.06.
Shikhar Dhawan said while talking to Aaj Tak, “Suryakumar Yadav has performed really well. He has consistently performed in the last couple of years. (He hasn’t done well) in a couple of series, which is very natural.
“If we talk about the Test match, the wickets are very different in a Test; that is the biggest challenge. When we played in India, there were turning tracks prepared because India had to win games. Things are not easy for batters, no matter how big he is.”
The left-hander added that experience matters a lot in Test cricket and feels SKY will get better with time.
“Not only spinning surfaces, batting is not easy on green tracks prepared for fast bowlers.” Dhawan added, “The challenges increase and that is where experience comes into play. When a youngster comes in, he doesn’t have that experience. He will fall three-four times, but he will learn from it and stand up again.”
On the other hand, Shikhar Dhawan was dropped from the ODI set-up as Shubman Gill has performed consistently for the team. Shikhar Dhawan scored 591 runs in 18 matches in the last 12 months at an average of 31.81. Dhawan admitted that they are used to such situations and revealed captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid had backed him to the hilt.
“When Rohit took over the captaincy he along with Rahul Dravid backed me enough. They told me they wanted me to focus on my cricket and that my vision should be the next World Cup. 2022 was very good for me as I was consistent in ODIs. But there is this young guy who has been doing well in two formats. When my form dipped in a couple of series, they gave a chance to Shubman. He has lived up to their expectations.
“We are used to such situations. When Ishan Kishan slammed a double century against Bangladesh, that time as well, I thought I could be out of the team.”
Dhawan will lead PBKS in the upcoming IPL 2023.
