Suryakumar Yadav Is "30-Plus", Cant Compare With Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan: Ex-Pakistan Captain Salman Butt

Having just completed a 3-0 clean sweep over New Zealand in their recent home T20I series, Team India bounced back to winning ways after a disappointing T20 World Cup. Despite the win on home soil, the hosts will be hoping to get back to work immediately and solve some problems within the unit. Other than the average bowling display in the recent T20 World Cup, the hosts also had plenty of issues in their batting order, especially in their middle order. Under the captaincy of Virat Kohli during the tournament, the likes of Suryakumar Yadav and Rishabh Pant failed to deliver with the bat. 

With Rohit Sharma appointed as full-time T20I skipper, India's middle-order once again didn't find consistency in the series against New Zealand. Fans were quick to point out the unreliability of Suryakumar, who scored a match-winning half-century in the first T20I, but flopped in the next two matches.

Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt was asked by a fan to share his perspective on Suryakumar's inconsistency. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Butt spoke about how Suryakumar can't be compared to Pant and Ishan Kishan. 

"Suryakumar Yadav is mature and has played a lot of domestic cricket. He is 30-plus. So, at this age, a batsman is very mature. You can't compare him to Ishan Kishan or Rishabh Pant's experience. They are relatively younger boys with less experience", he said.

"So, Suryakumar Yadav should be more consistent. Maybe he will become in sometime", he further added.

The Mumbai Indians (MI) cricketer didn't get too many opportunities during the T20 World Cup and failed to deliver in the crunch match against Pakistan. The 31-year-old began the first match of the New Zealand series on a strong note with a knock of 62 off 40 deliveries as the hosts won by five wickets.

In the second T20I, the batter failed to impress and could only add a run to the scoreboard off two balls. Despite his poor display at No.4 in the batting order, India went on to win the game by seven wickets. 

In the third T20I, he batted at No.3 and was dismissed for a duck. A brilliant half-century by Rohit Sharma helped the India win the third T20I by 73 runs.

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team New Zealand Cricket Team Suryakumar Yadav Ishan Kishan Salman Butt Rishabh Pant India vs New Zealand 2021 Cricket