SKY Falls: Suryakumar Yadav Gets Three Successive GOLDEN DUCKS
IND vs AUS: SKY in the nets before the Chennai ODI (AP Photo)
The ODI series has ended with the bat for Indian batter Suryakumar Yadav. And the three-match series against Australia has been a forgetful run for the T20 maestro. In all three matches, Suryakumar has got dismissed on golden ducks, getting decimated twice by Mitchell Starc and then by Ashton Agar at Chennai.
Notably, SKY has been the first and only batter to bag this rare feat in ODI cricket. Interestingly, he has been dismissed by left-armers on all three occasions.
At Mumbai and Visakhapatnam, he returned after getting out on identical dismissal against Starc, failing to read an in-swinging full delivery. Whereas at Chepauk, against the tweaker, he tried playing a good length on the back foot with the horizontal bat, but it was a delivery to be played off the front foot.
On a spinning track of Chennai, the Champion T20 batter was demoted down the order to Number 7, despite playing in place of an injured Shreyas Iyer.
This series was considered Surya’s opportunity to grab a spot in the ODI World Cup squad; however, the ongoing slump isn’t helping his case.
Although Surya is not the first man to bag a hattrick of ducks as the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Zaheer, Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah are among the Indians to bank such a disappointing feat.
Despite being the Number 1 T20I batter, the right-hander hasn’t been able to translate his success into the longer formats.
In 23 ODIs, Surya could only amass a total of 433 runs, with just two half-centuries to his name. Meanwhile, in the last 10 innings, he has accumulated a paltry 101 runs at a mere average of 12.22.
At the time of writing, the game is in balance with India at 213/6 after 42 overs, with Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja being the last recognised pair.