The Indian team’s winning run in Asia Cup 2023 came to an end with loss to Bangladesh in Super 4 stage of the Asia Cup 2023. Having already qualified for the final, Rohit Sharma decided to make 5 changes in the lineup to give chance to the ones sitting on the bench. Prasidh Krishna, Axar Patel, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul and Mohammed Shami got in while Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya were rested. Despite some big names missing, the Men In Blue still played well and lost by just 6 runs.
Two things, however, will be of huge concern to the Indians. Form of some of their middle order batters and pacers. Krishna and Shami disappointed at the death, leaking runs in abundance, allowing Bangladesh to go past 250. The fact that their lower order scored so freely is a sign of worry. Secondaly, the form of Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma. Surya’s terrible form in ODIs, especially, is a big worry as he is part of the ODI World Cup squad.
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Not to forget, Surya was picked over Sanju Samson for World Cup. The Rajasthan Royals captain has far better record that Surya in ODIs. At the same time, despite failures, Surya has got more chances that Sanju in this white-ball format. In 13 ODIs, Sanju has scored 390 runs at an average of 55.71 with 3 fifties, playing with strike rate of 104. Surya has played in 27 ODIs, scoring 537 runs at an average of 24.41 and strike rate of 99.81, with 2 fifties.
Surya’s good run in T20Is has pushed Rohit and head coach Rahul Dravid to trust him with ODI role but it is also true that he has consistently failed.
Sanju fans took to X (formerly Twitter) to slam the decision to include Surya (in World Cup squad) and Tilak in the squad for Asia Cup 2023. One of the fans wrote, “I don’t know why Tilak Verma is selected for Asia Cup with the experience of Zero ODIs matches? They played in ODIs with Sanju Samson, Ruturaj the whole year but when it comes to main selection for AsiaCup they selected a boy from IPL. Disgusting.”
Take a look at some of the reactions below:
Suryakumar Yadav dismissed for 26 from 34 balls.
Sanju 100 times better than this fraud MI Quota Suryakumar .
Favoritism destroys indian cricket. #SanjuSamson can bat as opener, middle order & finisher too.#INDvBAN #TilakVerma pic.twitter.com/kJPwUtTMm4
— SSA (@WDeekz) September 15, 2023
I don’t know why Tilak Verma is selected for Asia Cup with the experience of Zero ODIs matches???
They played in ODIs with Sanju Samson, Ruturaj the whole year but when it comes to main selection for AsiaCup they selected a boy from IPL. DISGUSTING _ @Harshitaa2003 #INDvsBAN pic.twitter.com/zMKrxu4ZWw
— Harshitaa (@Harshitaa2003) September 15, 2023
SKY averages 25 in 27 ODIs. If you still don’t believe that Sanju Samson was robbed, then nothing can convince you and the MI lobby.#BANvIND
— Himanshu Pareek (@Sports_Himanshu) September 15, 2023
Sanju Samson didn’t get even 1% of the chances and backing from this team management. But Surya Kumar Yadav still playing matches failure after failure. They trust Tilak who didn’t even play an ODI but they don’t trust Sanju who has an avg of 56 in 13 matches pic.twitter.com/HYvXrPX3MW
— Brutu ___ __ (@KattaVillain) September 15, 2023
Tilak has no ODI experience but was picked directly for Asia Cup 2023. He did not play all matches. He walked in to the side only after India had booked their seat in the final. But unlike T20s, Tilak started off his ODI career with a score of just 5. This is still early days to say that he does not belong to ODIs but it is also true that there was no basis to back him for playing the Asia Cup over Sanju.
Source: Zee News