Sunil Gavaskar Reacts To Suryakumar Yadav's Bizarre Decision Against Oman In Asia Cup 2025 Clash

The legendary Sunil Gavaskar backed skipper Suryakumar Yadav's decision to promote his teammates and not come out to bat himself in India's inconsequential group match against Oman. With India having already sealed a Super Four berth after wins over UAE and Pakistan, Suryakumar reshuffled the batting order to give the lower-order more game time, even pushing himself down to No. 11. India posted 188 for eight and went on to beat Oman by 12 runs. "If he had batted for even one over, he could have hit a few fours and sixes and that would have been good for him. But the way he batted against Pakistan, may be does not need batting practice," Gavaskar said in a conversation with former India pacer Irfan Pathan on Sony Sports.

"He may have thought that Kuldeep Yadav's batting could come in handy if India lose quick wickets in one of the matches. Perhaps that's why he may have sent Kuldeep in to bat." Gavaskar praised Suryakumar for his out-of-the-box thinking.

"He is a very unorthodox thinker. We saw in Sri Lanka that he himself bowled and also gave Rinku Singh the ball. He turned the game, which seemed to have slipped away, on its head and won India the match.

"He is an innovative thinker. May be that's why he did not bat and sent in Kuldeep and Arshdeep Singh," the 76-year-old added. 

After the match, Suryakumar also opened up about the tactics he used against Oman.

"Definitely I'll try from next game (joking about batting higher than No.11). Overall impressive, I feel, Oman played unbelievable brand of cricket. I knew with their coach, Sulu sir (Sulakshan Kulkarni), there will be khadoosness. It was amazing, really enjoyed watching them bat," said SKY during the post-match presentation. 

"It's a little difficult when you're sitting and suddenly you come out and play (talking about Arshdeep and Harshit). It's so humid here. Unfortunate how he got out but you can't keep him away from the game (talking about Hardik Pandya), the way he bowled and the way he got out. All set for Super Fours (when asked about the Sunday clash)," he added. 

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Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team Oman Sunil Gavaskar Suryakumar Yadav Asia Cup 2025 Cricket