The Indian cricket team surprised everyone by opening with Suryakumar Yadav(SKY) in the ongoing T20I series against West Indies. A lot of questions were also raised after Suryakumar scored 24 and 11 runs in the first two matches of the series. Cricket experts and pundits also expressed their dissatisfaction in the decision to open with Suryakumar Yadav. 

Former Indian opener and cricket commentator Akash Chopra had said :

"When you have openers like Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson, then why are you tinkering with Suryakumar's confidence? Now, Suryakumar Yadav won't play against Zimbabwe. He will play in the Asia Cup where he might not open."

If you look at this issue surfacely, Akash Chopra's statement seems valid. But lets look at this in a different way.

Turning Point of Rohit Sharma's Career

We all know the current skipper of Indian team Rohit Sharma also started as a middle order batsman. It was the Champions Trophy 2013, that changed Rohit's career. The then captain MS Dhoni send Rohit to open the innings. Rohit, who had a poor form with the bat with just 168 runs from 14 matches at an average of 12.92 when he was selected for the tournament. Everyone were shocked to see him in the team forget about opening the innings. He was always regarded susceptible to the swinging conditions in England and the same guy was going to play the new ball for India in England.

It was not the case that India didn't had any other openers. It was just a gambling from Dhoni that turned out to be a smart move eventually. We have to admit the fact that, had Rohit not scored runs in that tournament, it was most likely that his cricket career was over. He was amongst top run scorers in that tournament.

Rohit went on to become the first cricketer to score 3 double centuries in ODIs thereafter. He was also the highest scorer in ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 in England when he smashed 5 centuries in the whole tournament. He is the first batsman to score 5 centuries in the same worldcup. Rohit has scored 6 centuries which is the joint highest centuries in the worldcup along with Sachin Tendulkar's 6 centuries.

If a guy like Rohit who was struggling to score runs even in batting favorable playing conditions, can do amazing job as an opener, what's wrong to try it with Suryakumar who has been doing a decent job in whatever opportunities he has got till now.

Ganguly convincing Sehwag to open the innings

One of the most profilic openers India has ever produced, Virender Sehwag too started as a middle order batsman. However, it was very hard for Sehwag to find a spot in the batting line up consisting of big names including Tendulkar, Ganguly, Laxman, Dravid. Skipper Ganguly had to convince Sehwag to open the innings looking at the crowded middle order. Ganguly convinced Sehwag to open for India showing him the complexity of him finding a place in the middle order. Sehwag eventutally went on to become one of the feared openers.

If Rohit or Sehwag had failed as an opener, many questions would have arised. Dhoni and Ganguly would have faced a lot more criticisms regarding their decision. But as Rohit and Sehwag started compiling runs, no one dared to question the decision.

Also Read : Can Hooda be the next Yuvraj for India ?

Likewise, when Suryakumar didn't had big scores from first 2 matches against West Indies, many questions and criticisms were piling on. As soon as the Mumbaikar scored a match winning 76 runs off 44 balls, the praises for Surya started flowing in. The same experts who were criticizing the decision to open with Surya, started applauding Surya's batting.

As far as my personal opinions are concerned, opening with Surya was a surprising move but not a blunder. Perhaps the team management were trying out new permutations and combinations. 

MS Dhoni giving the ball to Joginder Sharma in 2007 T20 World Cup final was a surprising move but no one questioned that because it worked. Dhoni promoting himself ahead of inform Yuvraj Singh in the 2011 World Cup final was a surprising move but no one questioned that because that too worked.

Who knows SKY as an opener might turn out to be yet another smart move that no one could question in coming days.