‘Suryakumar Yadav should be batting at No.3,’ – Gautam Gambhir

Suryakumar Yadav has been in rich vein of batting form of late. He scored his maiden T20I century against England earlier this year in June and then played another match-winning knock in the third match of a T20I series against West Indies.

That wasn’t all as he was seen in his full might once again during India’s Asia Cup 2022 encounter against Hong Kong on Wednesday. Walking in to bat in a tricky situation at No.4, Suryakumar went on to smash an unbeaten 68 off just 26 deliveries. He made a total mockery of the Hong Kong bowling attack as he smashed six fours and an equal number if sixes during his knock.

Watching Suryakumar’s range and prowess against spinners, former India opener Gautam Gambhir feels that he should be batting higher up at No.3 for India. Gambhir feels that when someone is in form, he should bat higher up and face as many number of deliveries as possible.

“See, I have a reason behind it. The reason is that you don’t fiddle with someone’s form just because you want someone else to get back into form. He was unbelievable in England when everyone struggled. He was brilliant in the West Indies as well. He’s 30 as well. He is not 21 or 22. He doesn’t have a lot of time on his hands. Make him bat at No.3, make the most of his form and Virat Kohli, he has got so much experience, he can still come and bat at No.4, depending on the situation as well,” Gambhir said on Star Sports.

“I personally feel that Surya should be batting at No.3 from here on till the World Cup and see what the results are going to be,” he added.

At present, it is Virat Kohli who bats at No.3 for India. But he has struggled against spinners a lot of late and that doesn’t make him the ideal candidate to bat at 3 and play through those middle-overs. It’s Suryakumar who has been in the form of his life and that’s why he should be batting at that position. As far as his statistics at No.3 go, the 30-year-old has scored 176 runs in six matches at an average of 35.20 and strike-rate of 157.14.