Page 41 - The Indian EYE 093022

SPORTS SEPTEMBER 30, 2022 | The Indian Eye 41

Jasprit Bumrah Suryakumar Yadav

SURYAKUMAR YADAV team.
Addressing a press conference
REACHES SECOND SPOT IN on the eve of India’s first T20 match
T20I RANKINGS against South Africa, the coach said
the batters were getting better strike
uryakumar Yadav has moved up rate and batting with more intent.
a slot to attain second position “We are close to the World Cup,
Swith career-best rating points in we have been I think playing pret-
the ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings ty good cricket as far as the team is
for batters, only a couple of points up concerned. But still, there are areas
from Pakistan skipper Babar Azam, that we are looking to improve. That
who is at third position. goes for batting, bowling as well as
In the latest weekly update that fielding. So we are focusing on all
considers performances in the sec- three departments and working hard
ond and third matches of the In- with the players and I think playing
dia-Australia series, Yadav is up to a in Australia will be very different to
career-best-equaling second position what we have been playing so far.
with 801 rating points after smashing Adapting to those conditions will be
a match-winning 69 off 36 deliveries the biggest challenge,” the batting
in the third match in Hyderabad on coach said.
Sunday that helped clinch the series Replying to queries, he said the
2-1. Babar, who had occupied the team has been putting “par or plus par
No.1 position for 1,155 days before scores every time we have batted first”.
being overtaken by team-mate Mo- “Definitely depends on the sur-
hammad Rizwan early this month, face that we are playing on. But when
was named Player of the Match for you say that we haven’t been able to
an unbeaten 110 in the second T20I put up scores, I don’t agree with that.
of their ongoing seven-match series Batting first was one of the concerns
against Australia and followed it up but since the last T20 world cup we
with scores of eight and 36 in the have been putting par or plus par
third and fourth matches, which were K L Rahul scores every time we have batted
also played over the past week. first. So, I don’t think that is an is-
India captain Rohit Sharma has sue,” Rathour said.
inched up one place to 13th posi- bowler Josh Hazlewood. five wickets in the last three matches. “There is a visible shift in the
tion after scores of 46 not out and 17 England batter Harry Brook’s Mark Wood (up 29 places to 40th) way we have been batting. The ap-
while Matthew Wade (up six places to scores of 31, 81 not out and 34 in Pa- and Sam Curran (up five places to proach has changed a bit. We are
62nd), Cameron Green (up 31 places kistan have lifted him 118 places to 47th) have also progressed. actually being more aggressive when
to 67th) and Tim David (up 202 plac- 29th position while Ben Duckett has ADAPTING TO CONDITIONS we are in there. We are I think play-
es to 109th) are the Australia players soared 1,070 places to 32nd position WILL BE BIGGEST CHALLENGE ing with better strike rates and more
to move up the rankings. Green and after scoring 43, 70 not out and 33 in intent and I think that is pretty evi-
David had notched half-centuries in those three matches. ndian batting coach Vikram Ra- dent since the last World Cup. “We
the final match of the series. Reece Topley is up 14 places to thour has said the team is looking have been able to put par or above
India spinners Axar Patel (up 23rd and is the third third-highest Ito improve in all three depart- par scores,” he added.
from 33rd to 18th) and Yuzvendra ranked England bowler after Adil ments of the game prior to the T20 The coach defended the bowling
Chahal (up from 28th to 26th) have Rashid and Chris Jordan while Paki- World Cup next month in Australia unit’s performance in the past match-
moved up the bowlers’ list, which stan speedster Haris Rauf is up seven and adapting to the conditions there es and said the team was trying to get
continues to be led by Australia fast places to 14th position after taking will be the biggest challenge for the better at bowling in the last overs.

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