India vs Australia: Rahul Dravid expects Suryakumar Yadav to turn around his ODI form

Team India will take on Australia in a bid to finalise their combinations ahead of the ODI World Cup at home. They will face Australia in the first of three matches on 22 September, Friday. India captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been rested for the first two matches while KL Rahul will lead the side. One of the key players in focus will be Suryakumar Yadav and as per head coach Rahul Dravid, the management is willing to back to right-hander despite his underwhelming numbers in this format. “I don’t think he needs to worry about the 27th. We have picked our team for the World Cup and Surya is in it. We made our decision to do that, and we completely back him. We back him because he has got a certain quality and ability that we have seen,” Dravid said ahead of the match. Suryakumar bagged three consecutive first-ball ducks against Australia earlier in the year and has not quite aced this format. However, he has received continuous support from the team management. He aims to prove himself in the Australia series and make his name do the rounds when playing XI for the first match of the World Cup is announced. “We completely back him. There’s total clarity on the fact that we are completely behind him. We know that hopefully, he will be able to turn it around. These 3 games, he will get these games, at least the first couple certainly, to be able to develop and keep going on his journey as one-day cricketer,” Dravid further added. Suryakumar spent most of the Asia Cup on the bench and played just one match against Bangladesh. He looked to get in the groove in the match against Bangladesh but was dismissed for 26 runs during a 267-run chase. Before the Asia Cup, he was included in a three-match ODI series against West Indies last month where he managed scores of 19, 24, and 35. His ODI average reads 24.41 and the right-hander needs to make the most out of these three matches against Australia.