Aakash Chopra cites Rohit Sharma's initial Test struggles to decode Suryakumar Yadav's ODI woes

After guiding India to an impressive seven-wicket win over West Indies in the third T20I, in Guyana on Tuesday (August 08), Suryakumar Yadav admitted to his ODI numbers being 'quite poor' as he continues to pile runs consistently in T20Is."If I'm honest, I know my numbers in one-day cricket are quite poor. There is no shame in admitting that. We talk about honesty, you need to be honest but it's even more important how you work and improve on it," Surya told reporters after slamming a match-winning 41-ball 83 versus the Windies.

Now, former Indian opener-turned-commentator, Aakash Chopra, has opened up on Surya's ODI numbers and cited Rohit Sharma's late bloom in Tests, something which might inspirethe former. On his YouTube channel, Chopra said, "Surya has candidly, honestly and openly accepted that his ODI record is really bad, it is nothing to be ashamed of, there is nothing to hide as well, and he already knows what everyone is saying."

"He also said that Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid have told him that he has to understand the format a little more. He is not the only one and he is not the first player as well who is taking a little time to shift from one format to the other," he further asserted.

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'Rohit Sharma has fallen in love with Test cricket'

Chopra then shifted focus to the current Indian captain Rohit and his initial struggles in Tests before his resurgencein late 2019. "If you look at Rohit Sharma when he was playing in the middle-order in the initial phase of his career, you left he was not comfortable with the format. He used to bat well and then play a bad shot. People used to wonder why because everything was going well and then came the bad shot. This was at the start of his Test career. After he began opening, he understood the pulse of the format. Now it feels like Rohit has fallen in love with Test cricket. He needed some time to understand the pulse of the other format," Chopra added.

Prior to becoming the Indian opener in late 2019, Rohit struggled in the red-ball format due to inconsistency and injuries. However, he has turned it aroundsince batting up the order. He has scored seven tons as an opener, with a best of 212, out of his ten centuries overall.

Thus, the former Indian cricketer-turned-expert has suggested Surya take a leaf from Rohit's book and give himself some time in the ODI format in order to understand the pulse of the game and then explode. It is to be noted that the right-hander has only managed511 runs -- with two fifties -- at an average of24.33 in 26 ODIs. It will be interesting to see if he makes the cut in India's Asia Cup squad, and later in the ODI World Cup line-up. He has been exceptional as a T20I batter, averaging over 45, but his ODI numbers need significant improvement.

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