Shikhar Dhawan Backs Suryakumar Yadav To Overcome His Lean Patch

image-lfpa99flSuryakumar Yadav in action [Source: Twitter]

Suryakumar Yadav has been the talk of the town for the last couple of years. He has performed exceptionally well in T20 cricket and has developed a massive fan base with his extravagant strokeplay. 

However, the man, fondly known as India's Mr.360, has recently suffered a dip in form, not being able to replicate his T20 exploits in Test and ODI cricket. As a result, a lot of noise has been created in social media and Indian cricketing circles about his effectiveness in the longer formats. 

People are calling his inclusion in Test cricket an unfair experiment, while many are questioning his place in the ODI side. However, one of India's most successful openers, Shikhar Dhawan, has come out in Yadav's defence.

Speaking to Aaj Tak, Dhawan stated that the Mumbai batter has performed consistently in the last couple of years, and a failure in a couple of series shouldn't be a benchmark to judge him in ODIs. 

"Suryakumar Yadav has performed exceptionally well. He has consistently performed in the last couple of years. (He hasn't done well) in couple of series, which is very natural,"

The veteran opener also explained why Yadav struggled in Australia Tests, stating:

"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 the batters, no matter how big he is."

Furthermore, the stylish southpaw expected the Mumbai Indians mainstay to regain his mojo and silence his critics in the upcoming fixtures.

"Not only spinning surfaces, batting is not easy on green tracks prepared for fast bowlers. 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."

Notably, Yadav recently bagged three consecutive golden ducks in the ODI series against Australia. He also had a forgettable Test debut in Nagpur, failing to make an impact. 

However, with the IPL coming up, the 32-year-old hopes to get some runs under the belt and regain his confidence.