Suryakumar Yadav scored 50 against Australia in 1st ODI© AFP
The talismanic Suryakumar Yadav finally roared back to form in ODI cricket, scoring 50 runs off 49 balls before being dismissed. Surya, who remains a part of India’s ODI World Cup squad too, hasn’t quite managed to impress in the 50-over format while wearing the Indian team but the Mohali ODI on Friday was different. In fact, even after the match had ended, Surya reportedly did some more batting practice in the nets. When former India cricketer Virender Sehwag was asked about the mentality behind such an act, he said that it’s not something he personally ever did.
In a chat during the post-match show, Sehwag said that he only believed in giving his all on the field. In fact, he also feels Surya doesn’t need to work his skills as the mental aspects of the game.
“I didn’t need to. When you go out there, you put your 100 percent effort. Sometimes, you get out and it’s fine. But for me, that was it. I wouldn’t practice until the next day. I don’t know the reasons why he was knocking after the game, but I believed that you prepared for this particular game, you had the chance, you made a mistake and got out. Focus on the mistake, the mindset is more important. The skills won’t go anywhere, you don’t need practice,” Sehwag said.
“It’s the mindset. What were you thinking when you play that shot, whether it was the right decision or not. The mental tuning is more important. You should’ve focussed on skills when you had those three ducks in a row. Now that you’ve scored runs, you have to tune yourself mentally,” Viru added.
Suryakumar’s place in the Indian ODI team has been questioned by many, owing too poor shows in the format. But, with the selectors deciding to pick him in the ODI World Cup squad, he would be determined to repay the management’s faith.
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