“He will need a big heart to play that lap shot at Perth,” Shoaib Malik, former Pakistan captain, would say about Surya Kumar Yadav ahead of India’s game against South Africa. “It will be exciting to see him,” Malik said.
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His co-panellist on A Sports Misbah-ul-Haq pointed out a line of attack against Suryakumar that South Africans are likely to try.
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“The fourth-stump line from a length and when the ball bounces from there. We saw him getting out against Pakistan with that length. We also saw even in the previous game against Netherlands a couple of deliveries from that length had him in some problem,” Misbah said. “South Africa have Rabada, Nortje who will use that on this bouncy pitch.”
Malik is obviously a fan of Surya. “His technique is good. He uses the pace of the bowler and plays that lap shot even on pitches without bounce. How he plays here would be interesting to see. He also plays with the minds of the bowler, forcing them to change their lengths. It’s very important for a middle-order batsman to do that to get runs. The conditions here are different. It will take a big heart to play those lap shots.
