Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt feels Suryakumar Yadav’s form is a cause of concern for the Indian team–and advised the Mumbai Indian batter to play some domestic cricket to return to form. Suryakumar Yadav will play for Mumbai Indians in the impending edition of the IPL.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Salman Butt feels Suryakumar Yadav got a lot of opportunities in the Indian team–and it is high time for him to repay the faith in the ODI format.

“10 innings are a lot of innings and it’s a matter of concern if a player cannot perform consistently. He is a very talented player, and he has performed well in internationals, even though it’s in another format. So maybe a breather, some domestic cricket where he can score some runs can help him come back,” said Butt.

The number one T20I batter in the world failed to capitalise on the opportunity provided to him in the ODI format. Suryakumar Yadav has scored only 2 half-centuries in the 23 matches, he has played so far in ODIs with a poor average of 24.06.

The prolific batter went through a bizarre series as he was dismissed for three consecutive golden ducks in the ODI series against Australia. Surya was trapped in front in the first two ODI’s similarly by Australian speedster Mitchell Starc and followed by another first-ball dismissal against Ashton Agar at Chennai.

“These kinds of successive failures are bound to put any player under immense pressure. It is important to relieve him of that pressure at times,”  Salman Butt said.

Suryakumar Yadav will look to put the ODI series performance aside and pay attention to IPL 2023, where he will play under Rohit Sharma. Mumbai Indians will take on Royal Challengers Bangalore in their opening encounter on April 2 at the famous M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.

India And Pakistan Are In The Same Boat – Salman Butt

Salman Butt feels India and Pakistan are in the same boat ahead of the 2023 ODI world cup and also pointed out the key difference between both the teams as India often chip and change their combinations and try out different things, whereas Pakistan always sticks to a similar team.

“They are in the same boat. India has the luxury of chopping and changing to play more cricket. But according to me, as a captain and as a coach, you do test your bench strength to a certain extent, but not to the point that it becomes regular. Pakistan’s problem is that they don’t do it all, and India’s problem is that they don’t stop doing it,” Butt further added.

India will look to sort out their playing combination for the ODI world cup in 2023 as soon as possible, as they have a high chance of ending their ICC title drought on home soil. Indian management will also sweat out on the availability of their star players Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, and Jasprit Bumrah for the World Cup.