"He Played Only Three Balls": Rohit Sharma's Honest Take On Suryakumar Yadav After Loss

India vs Australia: India skipper Rohit Sharma admitted that Suryakumar Yadav is going through a bad phase, but backed the underfire batter.

India player Suryakumar Yadav is definitely not having the best of times. The batting star scored three consecutive golden ducks in India's just-concluded ODI series against Australia. While he is the top batter in the T20Is, Suryakumar is yet to establish himself in the 50-over format. He has scored 433 runs in 23 ODI matches at an average of 24.05, which is way less than the potential and class he possesses. With an unimpressive start to the ODI career, his most recent failure against Australia has put him under the scanner again.

India skipper Rohit Sharma admitted that Suryakumar is going through a bad phase, but backed the underfire player.

"He only played three balls in three (games) this series. I don't know how much to look into it. He got three good balls, to be honest. Today, it wasn't that good ball; he should have gone forward. He knows best. He plays spin so well. We have seen that over last couple of years. That's why we held him back and give him that role for the last 15-20 overs where he can play his game, but it's really unfortunate he could only play three balls. That can happen to anyone. But the potential and ability is always there. He is just going through that phase right now," said Rohit after the game.

In the first game against Australia, Suryakumar was caught plumb in front of the stumps by an inswinging delivery from Mitchell Starc. In the second ODI, he was dismissed by the same bowler in an identical manner. In the third ODI, Ashton Agar cleaned Suryakumar up with a quick delivery which was fired onto the stumps.