Suryakumar Yadav's struggle in ODI cricket - Is it time for a change?

A dejected SKY looked down as he heard the sound of the stumps rattling. He stays at the crease a few seconds wondering what he had done before making the long back to the pavilion. In the three-match ODI series against Australia, SKY's combined score is 0, where he scored 3 consecutive golden ducks – which is a record in itself. 

Suryakumar Yadav is a batting phenomenon when it comes to T20 cricket. Currently listed as the number one player in men's T20 cricket rankings, the Mumbai Indias batter holds the ability to singlehandedly win games for India. His finesse at the crease and innovative shots has earned him praise all over the world. He was adjudged the ICC's T20I Cricketer of the Year in 2022. And it is mainly through his meteoric rise T20 cricket, that he earned both his ODI and Test call-ups. 

However, it is no doubt that SKY has not been able to transfer his form in T20 to ODI cricket (as yet) as much as the Indian management fans would want him to. If we look at the last 10 of his T20 innings, we will see that he scored two hundreds and one fifty, reached double figures in nine of those innings, and was not out in four of those instances – numbers which many international batters are yet to achieve in their entire careers. 

But when we look at the same number of innings in ODI, there is not a single fifty and he only managed to reach double figures in 3 of those 10 innings. His ODI career average of 24.05 is hardly what you expect from an Indian middle order batsman. 
Regardless of his poor form in ODI cricket, the coach and captain are both backing SKY to deliver for the team. With no confirmed date of Shreyas Iyer's return from injury, Rohit Sharma said after the second ODI defeat that they had a spot available in the team and were willing to give SKY '7-8-10 games' in order for him to succeed in the longer format of the game. 
However, one does wonder of his contributions in the recently concluded ODI series against Australia. He did not score any runs, nor did he take any catches and he does not bowl either. Had they played another batter in his place could India have won the game in the 3rd ODI and clinched the series? 
If we take a closer look at both of the innings, you will see that in Australia's innings, barring Smith's duck, all the other batters reached double figures and got starts but no one could convert it to a 50. The batters in the Indian side also made similar contributions to their score – nearly all of them got starts and Virat even got a fifty, but had Axar or SKY (the only two batsmen in the top 8 who could not score more than 2) scored an extra 21 runs, India would have won the game. 
The onus of winning the game for India came more on SKY than Axar since SKY is a pure batsman and Axar was unfortunately run out. Rohit Sharma also said, they held SKY back till 6 down, so that in the last 10-15 overs of the game, he could play his natural game and finish the match. 
The calls for reinstating Sanju Samson in the team has been growing for a while now. Sanju Samson currently averages a healthy 66 in ODI cricket, having scored 2 fifties and was not out in 5 of the 11 matches he has played thus far. The case of Sanju Samson is quite peculiar as well. 
Despite consistent forms in both T20 and ODIs, the Rajasthan Royals captain was first benched in the T20 series against New Zealand last year, where Hardik Pandya labeled his exclusion as an 'unfortunate' case and for 'strategic' reasons. Even though he played the first ODI against New Zealand in the same series, he was dropped again later, with Dhawan calling it another strategic choice to put an extra bowler on the side.
Coming up next for India is an away series against West Indies in July, the Asia Cup (also away) in September, and a home series against Australia in the same month, before the World Cup in October-November. This series should serve as a pre-dress-rehearsal for India's team selection for the World Cup, given India does not play at home again till right before the world cup. 
The last time India won a World Cup was back in 2011, when they were one of the hosts of the World Cup. Although they came agonizingly close in numerous circumstances in winning an ICC tournament in the last 12 years, they fell short every time. This is arguably India's best chance of winning the World Cup. 
Therefore, the Indian management needs to be pitch perfect in the team selection and decision making. Although Iyer will probably miss the IPL, he is expected to comeback for the World Cup. However, according to Sourav Ganguly, Pant may take up to two years to fully return to the Indian cricket team. So, the management needs to carefully consider whether to further their case with SKY, or to reinstate a much more in-form batsman in the name of Sanju Samson.