 "Sunil Gavaskar, son Rohan divided over Suryakumar Yadav's unusual decision against Oman: 'Very unorthodox thinker'")
While they had their sights set on completing a hat-trick of victories in the group stage of the 2025 Asia Cup, India were also in the mood to experiment with their lineup and test their bench strength against Oman on Friday.
India had used eight different bowlers during Oman's chase, with pacers Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana getting an opportunity for the first time in the ongoing tournament after pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy were rested.
That, however, wasn’t the only bit of experimentation from the Indians against Oman on Friday, with captain Suryakumar Yadav remaining confined to the dugout throughout the course of the Indian innings.
The Indian batting lineup was largely untested, especially in the lower middle order after their successful chases against hosts United Arab Emirates and Pakistan, and the skipper wanted to give other batters some time out in the middle, including and especially wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson, who walked in at one-down.
Sunny G lauds Surya’s decision
While some fans and experts were left scratching their heads over Surya’s decision, the Mumbai Indians star found support in batting legend Sunil Gavaskar, who felt he got enough batting practice with his unbeaten 47 against Pakistan last Sunday.
“He is very unorthodox thinker. We saw in Sri Lanka that he himself bowled and also gave Rinku Singh the ball. He turned the game, which seemed to have slipped away, on its head and won India the match. He is an innovative thinker. May be that’s why he did not bat and sent in Kuldeep and Arshdeep Singh,” Gavaskar said on Sony Sports.
Gavaskar Jr accuses SKY of taking Oman seriously
His son, Rohan, however, had a very different take on SKY's decision to not bat at all against Oman, accusing the Indian team of not taking their opponents seriously enough.
“So it clearly shows that they didn’t take the game seriously. Yeah, the batting order was such that Suryakumar Yadav didn’t bat. So they’ve not taken the game seriously. The bowling also hasn’t taken but the main bowlers not Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma, are the ones will be thinking you know what these Omani batters were 20 short of what would have been a historical victory for them,” Rohan had said on Cricbuzz.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsSurya opted to bat for a change after winning the toss at Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Stadium, with the Men in Blue posting 188/8 on the board, with Samson top-scoring for the side with a patient 56 off 45 balls that later got him the Player of the Match award.
The Oman batting lineup later impressed against the world’s top-ranked T20I team, cruising to 149/1 in the 18th over with opener Aamir Kaleem (64) and Hammad Mirza (51) slamming half-centuries. The Asia Cup debutants, however, couldn’t really keep up with the asking rate, and eventually fell short at 167/4, resulting in a 21-run victory for the Men in Blue.
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