Sanjay Manjrekar has expressed concerns over the way India captain Suryakumar Yadav is batting during the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.Manjrekar praised Suryakumar for pacing himself and delivering a strong performance during his 84-run innings against the United States in Mumbai. However, he said the Indian captain continued to be cautious in the remainder of the game, which limited the role of Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dubey and Linku Singh in the final game.“I saw something in Suryakumar Yadav that I didn’t really like. 77-6, India vs. USA in Wankhede, Suryakumar Yadav had to change the way he played and he did a fantastic job. Just slowed down a bit and then exploded, got a great score, man of the match, etc.,” Manjrekar said on his Instagram page.He added that Suryakumar may have taken things too far after that match, including during the match against Pakistan. According to him, both Suryakumar and Tilak Varma batted conservatively, which reduced the impact of the finishers.“From then on, I thought he went a little too far. Against Pakistan, India lost a few wickets and he really brought the shutters down a lot. He and Tilak Varma both played slightly conservatively and in the end, the likes of Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dubey and Linku Singh didn’t really make use of the resources,” he continued.Manjrekar also said that this approach could be risky in T20 cricket if senior players or captains feel the need to stay till the end, especially when batting first or chasing a big score. He said no top-order batsman should try to control the innings in this way.“It’s a dangerous thing to do in T20 cricket, where a senior player or a captain feels he has to stay on the field, especially when batting first. When you set a target of 200-plus, it’s a very dangerous strategy if someone in the top four believes he has to control the innings and make sure he can lead India to a certain score. No batsman should have such thoughts. So, Surya has to be careful about that,” Manjrekar concluded.Suryakumar has scored 164 runs in the tournament so far, second only to Ishan Kishan among Indian batsmen. His strike rate of 136.13 is much lower than Kishan’s 202.29.India will face South Africa in their first Super Eight match in Ahmedabad on Sunday. India top Group A with 8 points after winning all their group matches.
