The list of players who have scored more than 1,500 runs in T20Is at a strike rate of more than 175 includes only one name – Suryakumar Yadav. To put into perspective just how otherworldly that is, the next highest strike rate for any batter with more than 1,500 runs in T20Is is nearly 20 runs less than that of ‘SKY’.

To add to that perspective, his T20I runs have come at an average of 46.52. Only two batters who have scored more than 1,500 runs in T20Is have a better average than him: Virat Kohli and Mohammad Rizwan. Both have strike rates of less than 140.

SKY has shown that he can consistently provide the best of both worlds, score extremely quickly, and yet score big regularly – in a format where players often spend their entire careers figuring out the right trade-off between the two.

He got off to a decent start as well, but just like his last few ODI innings, it ended in disappointment when he tried to cut a turning ball from Gudakesh Motie and hit to point. Another tame dismissal.

Running out of time

India have a maximum of 10 ODIs ahead of their first World Cup match against Australia on October 8. In all likelihood, Iyer and KL Rahul should return to the squad and the playing XI by then to bat at four and five, followed by Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja.

This leaves SKY with a handful of opportunities before Iyer and Rahul return, to prove his worth and book a place in the World Cup squad as a finisher and a backup middle-order batter.

India have persisted with him for long, and have not been swayed by his well-below-average numbers. However, he has to provide at least one glimpse, one reminder of what he brings to the table before the World Cup to make it to the tournament. And he does not have a lot of time left to do that.