ICC T20 World Cup 2022: 'Suryakumar playing beautifully through that middle to late stage' - Hayden

Australian batting great and Pakistan mentor Matthew Hayden believes Twenty20 (T20) cricket is not always about strength, and subcontinental players like Suryakumar Yadav have demonstrated that they could pose a menace with "access shots" and "innovation". The power hitters from sides like Australia, England and the Windies have dominated the shortest format. Still, Hayden modelled the rampaging Suryakumar to drive his point, which is more about encountering an artful equilibrium.

"The power game in T20 cricket is still being explored because there is a mixture. I think the subcontinental players, when you look at the tournament so far, guys like Suryakumar Yadav, who are playing beautifully through that middle to late stage, with a competency of all areas of the ground, with access shots, innovation, become threats," Hayden reckoned during the pre-match presser ahead of Pakistan's semi-final clash against New Zealand in Sydney.

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Surya has gone past 1,000 runs in Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) in 2022. On Sunday, the 32-year-old charmed an 82,000-strong Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) gathering with his shots, some of them being insane. His unbeaten 61-run knock from 25 deliveries set up India's significant win over minnows Zimbabwe.

"So, it's not always about the power. And, as I said, as cricketers, we're all trying to come to grips with when is the power, when that foot goes down on the floor when it decelerates and look to preserve. And a lot of the matches have been very close matches. And the tricky balance between the preservation of wickets versus the exploration of innovation has been why a lot of the sides that are here now in this tournament are still here. Australia is a great case of that. Power to burn but has yet to be able to handle the new ball. And it's let itself be vulnerable through the middle of the order," stated Hayden.

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Defending champion Australia failed to reach the knockout stage, finishing third in its Super 12 Group 1 with seven points, with England sealing the semis place on a better net run rate (NRR). Hayden, part of the 2003 One-Day International (ODI) World Cup-winning side, said that Australia didn't get things correct in its preparation for the T20 global event and will have to make some courageous decisions ahead of next year's ICC World Cup.

"The Australian team has some thinking to do. There has to be some freshness... there has to be planning to head towards World Cups. They're the premium events. They're the events that everyone across the world prepares for, and Australia, unfortunately, didn't get it right. We all know the Australian cricket team and the culture of Australian cricket has been challenged over the last four or five years. There must be some improvements in the departments, especially their fast bowling attack," explored Hayden.

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Hayden identified certain strategic judgments that boomeranged and also pulled up the batters. "I think strategically, not playing Mitchell Starc, our premium bowler, ahead of that game was also significant. So, little things, but just performances. Davey Warner's performance in the World Cup was less remarkable than in the last World Cup. He's a premium player. Our expectations, like Babar, like all the great players, are so high that they get exposed when they don't quite get it right," he recognised.

"And then, they [Australia] have to raise their game, challenge themselves, become better players, and then play better tournament cricket. And tournament cricket is very hard. And it's very different for the joint programme because you don't get second bites at the cherry typically," concluded Hayden.

(With inputs from PTI)