Asia Cup 2023: Matthew Hayden's 'respect from your country' remark after another flop show from Suryakumar Yadav

Suryakumar Yadav's never-ending struggle in ODI cricket continued with another failure against Bangladesh on Friday. In the dead rubber last Super Fours match of the Asia Cup 2023, India rested five of their key players including Virat Kohli to give opportunities to the likes of Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma.

Tilak Varma managed just five runs on his debut, however, he isn't part of India's World Cup 2023 squad. The real concern is Suryakumar Yadav, who has been named in the preliminary squad ahead of Sanju Samson, and is averaging only 24.41 after scoring 537 runs in 27 ODI matches. Against Bangladesh he scored 26 off 34 as India failed to chase a 266-run target in Colombo.

Matthew Hayden has reckoned that the burden of expectation has made the 33-year-old cricketer desperate for success in the format. The former Australia opener added that sitting out for four consecutive matches could also be playing on the mind of the number one ranked T20I batter in the world.

“I really understand the mindset. Because I sat for seven years without getting a game for Australia. You have these moments when you perform incredibly well for your state, and in Suryakumar Yadav's case, in first-class and IPL cricket, where his strike rate is 170+. When it comes to ODIs, he hasn't quite found, or decoded, what's his game going to be,” Hayden said on Star Sports.

“He just played 'get out of the jail' shots, trying to get those lack of respect runs. Even when Jadeja came to play, he was going bang-bang-bang with Shubman Gill powering away. That takes a lot of confidence internally. You have to be right at the top of your game. When you are fighting so hard to find respect from your country in that one format, the harder you chase it, the farther it seems to get away. So, I do feel for Suryakumar Yadav, who I think has a huge role to play in this World Cup,” Hayden added.

The right-hander has been backed by captain Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid despite his poor run in ODI cricket. Suryakumar Yadav pipped Sanju Samson for a place in India's World Cup 2023 squad. However, the latest failure would only increase the pressure on him.

He is unlikely to feature in the Asia Cup 2023 final against Sri Lanka on Sunday. India will face Australia in a 3-match ODI series starting September 22 before playing two World Cup warm-up games. Failures in those games (if given a chance) would become a major concern for India who are aiming to have a robust middle-order batters in the ICC event which kicks off from October 5.