'No shame in accepting': Suryakumar makes blunt admission about his ODI numbers

Swashbuckling batsman Suryakumar Yadav has been asked by the Indian team management to play at least 4550 balls in the last 1518 overs in the format in which his numbers are ordinary and he has no shame in accepting thatAfter guiding India to a sevenwicket victory over the West Indies with his brutal knock of 83 off 44 balls in the third T20 International which kept the fivematch series alive the batter was candid in his assessment of his poor record in the 50over gameMy ODI numbers are very poor and there is no shame in accepting that Being honest is very important because everyone knows that because we all talk about honesty So it is very important to stay honest about your performance But what is more important is how to improve that Suryakumar said at the postmatch press conferenceCaptain Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid have advised him to play this format moreRohit and Rahul sir have told me that this is the format that I dont play much so you have to play it more and think about itIf you are batting in the last 1015 overs think what you can do for the team All we want from you is to play 4550 ball if you are getting to bat in the 1518 overs play your own game Its in my hand now how to change the responsibility into an opportunity he saidAlso Read Team Indias Big Three and the inevitability of successionIn the ODI series against the Windies he could not make his presence felt managing scores of 19 24 and 35 in the three matchesSo far he has played 26 ODIs and scored 511 runs at an average of 2433 a far cry from his T20I average of 456In 2023 Suryakumar played 10 ODIs and scored an average of just 14 runsWe have played a lot of T20Is so it has become a habit We play T20 regularly and all we need to do is express ourselves But we do not play a lot of onedayers and ODI is the most challenging formatThis is because you have to bat as per the situation For example if wickets fall early then you need to spend time in the middle play like Test cricket then in the middle play run a ball and then towards the end approach it like a T20 gameNow what the team management has told me about that format I am just trying to apply that in ODIs Take some time do as per the teams requirement and play my game towards the end I will just look to live up to the expectations of the team management and repay their faithBut the T20 format you are talking about we play it regularly we know the situation we just have to go out and express ourselvesBefore the ODI World Cup Suryakumar said the team has good number of matches lined up to help them prepare in the best possible way for the showpiece which India is hostingWe have 78 games before the ODI World Cup Its enough for a team to prepare We also have a camp before that where all the players will gather Its important to spend time together understand strengths and weaknesses We will try to win hopefully he saidReflecting on his knock on Tuesday he said I think I didnt do anything different I have been batting the same way in the last two years Today was also the same day I just had to go out and express myself the way I have been doing in the last few years And everything kept falling in place the way I battedI am never thinking about milestones in my mind Because you have seen my innings even when Im batting on 47 or 98 I play as per the teams requirement and achieve a milestone with a boundary or a six If it happens good but I look to play according to the teams requirementWhen asked about Tilak Varma who impressed once again with his unbeaten 49run knock Suryakumar said the youngster has shown a lot of maturity for his age and called him a starI feel Tilak Varma for his age he is showing amazing maturity We have played together in the IPLHe has done it in the IPL and here too in that situation and in only his third international game the kind of maturity he has shown I think all credit goes to him his hard work I hope he continues in the same vein but yes Tilak Varma is a starI think he is very clear in his mind most importantly he knows his game very well what he want to do when he comes on to batToday also he was very clear what he wanted to do and he is mentally very strong the most important thing you need when you come into the dressing room when you play at this level that is the most important thing He has come strongWith agency inputs