West Indies vs India 2023

‘Clearly did not understand what happened’ – Mohammed Kaif criticizes management’s decision of opening with Suryakumar Yadav

India is on a mission to win at least one ICC Title in the upcoming World Cups. But, they are yet to narrow down on their final 15 players for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2022. They are still zeroing down on who is their first choice and who are the backup options for all the slots. The one place where India has done a lot of experimentation has been in the Openers slot.

The Men in Blue were forced to do this because of criticism that the regular openers have not been performing consistently in the shortest format of the game. With Suryakumar Yadav walking in alongside captain Rohit Sharma at the start of The Men in Blue’s innings in the first T20I  against West Indies, he became the seventh opener for the Men in Blue in this calendar year.

Mohammed Kaif has come down heavily on Coach Rahul Dravid and Skipper Rohit Sharma for this strategy. The former Indian Cricketer, in conversation with Fan Code, at the end of the Indian innings, opined that the Men in Blue should have given  Rishabh Pant a longer rope at the top of the order.

The wicketkeeper-batter had opened for India in the England series earlier this month, scoring a 15-ball 26 and a 5-ball one. The veteran cricketer explained that their decision regarding Pant has bucked the trend of any of their decisions so far, where they have been seen backing players for at least 5-6 innings before moving to the next option.

“Whatever that was I did not understand it, at all. If you were trying Rishabh Pant as the opener for 2-3 matches then you should have gone with him today as well. Give him at least 5 chances. And this strategy of captain Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid, they back the players at least 5-6 matches. But this did not happen with Pant. And Suryakumar has the role of controlling the innings in the middle and adding those finishing touches. In fact, his role will remain as No.4 batter when Kohli and Rahul returns. But Pant should have been tried. Clearly did not understand what happened. Ishan Kishan is also waiting,” he said.