Suryakumar Yadav's Bizarre Move Against Oman Splits Internet: "Trying To Be Oversmart"
Indian cricket team skipper Suryakumar Yadav demoted himself to No. 11 in a bizarre move during the Asia Cup 2025 match against Oman on Friday.
- Suryakumar Yadav demoted himself to No. 11, not facing a single delivery in Asia Cup 2025 match against Oman
- India gave every batter a chance, demoting regular batsmen including Tilak Varma to lower positions
- The decision left the social media split with some praising the decision while some calling it 'oversmart'
Indian cricket team skipper Suryakumar Yadav demoted himself to No. 11 in a bizarre move during the Asia Cup 2025 match against Oman on Friday. Opting to bat, India decided to give every one of their batters a chance to play with SKY pushing himself down the order. Sanju Samson was sent at No. 3 followed by Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel and Shivam Dube. Tilak Varma, who normally bats at No. 3, was demoted to No. 7 but there was still no sign of SKY. Ultimately, India lost eight wickets with SKY not facing a single delivery. The decision left social media split with some pointing out that other batters needed practice while some accusing SKY of disrespecting cricket and even trying to act 'oversmart'.
Why did Suryakumar Yadav didn't come out to bat tonight?
— Madhav Sharma (@HashTagCricket) September 19, 2025
I think it was a move to give other batters a chance but he should have come out to bat ahead of Harshit, Arshdeep and Kuldeep.
What are your thoughts?
#indvsoman pic.twitter.com/txviRP3j79
Coming to the match, India beat Oman by 21 runs after the ICC associate member nation put up a spirited show with the bat in the last group league fixture of the Asia Cup on Friday.
Why Suryakumar Yadav & Gautam Gambhir trying to be oversmart? What was the need of sending Harshit Rana ahead of Suryakumar Yadav? What are they trying to achieve with this move?
— Vipul 🇮🇳 (@Vipul_Espeaks) September 19, 2025
Sanju Samson struck a 45-ball 56 and Abhishek Sharma provided the early momentum with a 15-ball 38 as India scored 188 for eight.
Unpopular opinion.. but even after 8 wickets down if Suryakumar Yadav doesn't walk out to bat despite being a captain, then I feel it is kinda disrespectful to the Oman team. Yes you want to test other batters but not even batting at No.10? C'mon. Not cool. #AsiaCup
— Anuj Nitin Prabhu (@APTalksCricket) September 19, 2025
In reply, Oman gave a good account of themselves before ending at 167 for four in their allotted quota of 20 overs.
Aamir Kaleem made a valiant 64 off 46 balls while adding 56 runs with skipper Jatinder Singh (32 off 33 balls) and 93 runs with Hammad Mirza, who slammed 51 off 33 balls.
However, the target of 189 proved to be too much for Oman as India entered the Super 4s with three wins in as many matches.
Meanwhile, Arshdeep Singh became the first Indian bowler to reach 100 wickets in men's T20 Internationals when he dismissed Vinayak Shukla in the last over of the match.
(With PTI inputs)
Sanju Samson
India Cricket Team
Oman