“He will learn from it and stand up again” - Shikhar Dhawan backs Suryakumar Yadav to come good in Test cricket 

Veteran Indian batter Shikhar Dhawan has backed Suryakumar Yadav to do well in Tests, overcoming his forgettable debut in red-ball cricket. The left-hander stated that the 32-year-old is inexperienced at the Test level, but can certainly learn from his failures and improve.

Following some stupendous performances in T20 cricket, Suryakumar was handed a Test debut against Australia in Nagpur after Shreyas Iyer was ruled out due to a back injury. The right-handed batter looked out of sorts in the only innings he played and was bowled by Nathan Lyon for eight, attempting an ambitious drive on a turning surface.

While some experts questioned the move to hand Suryakumar a Test debut on the basis of his white-ball exploits, Dhawan was not too critical of the batter. In an interview with Aaj Tak, he backed the Mumbai cricketer and opined:

“Suryakumar Yadav has performed really well. He has consistently performed in the last couple of years. (He hasn’t done well) in a couple of series, which is very natural.

"If we talk about the Test match, the wickets are very different in a Test; that is the biggest challenge. When we played in India, there were turning tracks prepared because India had to win games. Things are not easy for batters, no matter how big he is."

On why experience matters a lot in Test cricket, Dhawan explained:

“Not only spinning surfaces, batting is not easy on green tracks prepared for fast bowlers." Dhawan added, "The challenges increase and that is where experience comes into play. When a youngster comes in, he doesn’t have that experience. He will fall three-four times, but he will learn from it and stand up again.”

Suryakumar had a horror ODI series against Australia at home recently as he was dismissed for golden ducks in all three matches.

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“We are used to such situations” - Shikhar Dhawan on losing his place in the Indian team

On a personal front, Dhawan is currently not part of the Indian ODI team. He was dropped after a couple of poor series and Shubman Gill grabbed the opportunities that came his way with both hands.

The veteran cricketer admitted that he received backing from skipper Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid, but his form deserted him. The 37-year-old stated:

"When Rohit took over the captaincy he along with Rahul Dravid backed me enough. They told me they wanted me to focus on my cricket and that my vision should be the next World Cup. 2022 was very good for me as I was consistent in ODIs. But there is this young guy who has been doing well in two formats. When my form dipped in a couple of series, they gave a chance to Shubman. He has lived up to their expectations.

“We are used to such situations. When Ishan Kishan slammed a double century against Bangladesh, that time as well, I thought I could be out of the team.”

Dhawan registered four single-figure scores in his last five ODI innings, forcing the selectors to drop him for the home series against Sri Lanka at the start of the year.