Visakhapatnam: Suryakumar Yadav’s back-to-back golden ducks have become the talk of the town. The Mumbaikar, who has set a new benchmark in T20 cricket, has so far been found to be weak in the ODI format. However, skipper Rohit Sharma is not bothered by his man’s lack of runs.
“He has clearly shown a lot of potential with the white ball and as I have said many times before, guys with potential will be given a good run of the game and given enough chances in that particular slot. Certainly we have seen and he knows that he needs to perform better in this format of the game as well. He also has things on his mind. Surya has got out cheaply in the last two matches and earlier in the series as well, but he needs 7 to 8 consecutive back-to-back matches to feel more comfortable. Now that he has come into the team as a replacement for an injured player, we as a management can’t really look at this kind of performance. Once you give runs to a player consistently and you know that runs are not coming or he is not comfortable etc. then we will start thinking about it, but we are not at that stage right now,” Rohit said. After the match, said briefing here on Sunday night.

Visakhapatnam has been a pleasant hunting ground for the Indians as they have won seven of the nine ODIs they have played here. However, Sunday proved to be uneventful. He said, ‘It has been a good ground for us but we did not bat well today. We didn’t apply ourselves. Even when you lose a few early wickets, it is important to have a partnership or two to get back in the game. I don’t think we batted well enough and that was a failure from our side. When you have only 117 on the board, the batsmen have nothing to lose, and they try to swing the bat and get starts. Once that happens, they keep on applying the pressure. Many times we have done it like in England when we had to chase 110 and if I am not mistaken, we did it in 12 or 13 overs. Today’s failure was our batting.
Asked whether the top order is a matter of concern, he said, “It is only two matches in which the top order has not done very well.” We have really been on fire in the last six games. Many top-order batsmen have scored big runs in the previous matches. When we need to look into it, we will definitely do it but now is not the time.
On facing a left-arm fast bowler like Mitchell Starc, he said: “When you have a quality bowler in the opposition, he is bound to take wickets. He is obviously trying his best and that It doesn’t matter whether he is a left-arm bowler or a right-arm bowler. If we lose wickets then it is a matter of concern – whether it is right-arm or left-arm, it is not an issue. We look at all kinds of things. Let’s see how we are getting out and come up with better plans, methods etc. It’s about it and to be honest, these are the only two matches where the top order hasn’t done well.
Asked whether the team is missing Jasprit Bumrah, Rohti said, “Bumrah has been absent for more than eight months and hence the team has got used to it. It is very difficult to fill Bumrah’s place as he is the best.” There is a bowler but now that he is not available for us we should not think about him. We have to move forward and the players have taken responsibility and done very well. Siraj, Shami and Shardul have done well and we have There are also Umran and Jaidev. They have worked for us on many occasions.”
On the final game in Chennai, the Indian captain said: “I think that won’t happen in Chennai. The players have played enough ODIs and will figure out how to deal with the bowlers. We don’t know what conditions we will get in Chennai , But we need to face it and play well. We have faith in our skills and do what is required at the time.