Ravi Shastri pushes Team India to identify the X-Factor in the middle order: “I’ll be watching him closely.”

With just a few days till the eagerly anticipated ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, former India head coach Ravi Shastri thinks Suryakumar Yadav could be crucial for the team captained by Rohit Sharma. On October 8 in Chennai, India will face Australia to begin their campaign.

Suryakumar, who Ravi Shastri feels to be the X-factor since he can win games for India at the ICC international tournament, would be a player to watch, according to Shastri.

I’ll be keeping a very careful eye on him. Since you have 6-7-8 players and your top order is performing well, you will either play him or Shreyas Iyer at this time. However, if every batter is scoring runs, that player becomes the deciding factor in a crucial game and might give you the victory. Because of the damage he can create with Hardik at 6-7-8, they can simply win the game by eliminating the opposition in the final 6-7 overs. Shastri said ESPNCricinfo, “I can assume that your batting is failing, but it’s not the case. So that’s the X factor you’ve got to think of.

Ravi Shastri continued by expressing his opinion that Suryakumar will be a key player in India’s middle order.

After Shreyas Iyer was forced to withdraw from the Asia Cup 2023 owing to back problems, the 33-year-old batter was given a spot in the starting XI. In the ensuing ODI series against Australia at home, Iyer made a comeback and scored the series-clinching century in the second game. He scored 156 runs against Australia in one-day internationals, averaging 52.00, compared to Suryakumar’s 130 runs across three games.

And it will hardly ever struggle in Indian conditions. You are aware that you anticipate 1-2-3-4-100. He’ll always be a part of my 12. You must consider the circumstances. A true flat track—I’d picture Surya. because you anticipate runs from the other 3–4 players. If the situation is difficult, challenging, or seaming, you might not know. You have five competent hitters who are all rather similar; instead, you need one X-factor, who could be a left-hander or a Surya, the 61-year-old continued.