The right-handed Mumbaikar scored a wonderful 36-ball 69 to guide India to a series-clinching victory against defending T20 World Champions Australia.
ICC World No.3 ranked batsman Suryakumar Yadav has set the stage on fire ever since making his debut for the Indian side about 18 months ago, particularly in the shortest format of the game. He has been outstanding, scoring close to 1,000 runs at a staggering strike rate of 175 in 31 games.
The hard-hitting Mumbai Indians batsman has made his chances count when turning out in Indian colours after finally getting the nod on the back of his consistent performances in the IPL and in the domestic circuit for a number of years. Suryakumar has developed somewhat of a liking of destroying the best bowling attacks in the business, something he did even on Sunday against the Aussies.
Yadav, along with Virat Kohli dismantled the Australian bowling in pursuit of 187. The Aussies made full use of the first and last few overs of the innings to rack up a score of 186 on the back of stunning half-centuries from Tim David and Cameron Green. In response, India lost both their openers in the space of four overs, prompting a fightback from Virat and Yadav.
Both batsmen looked in spectacular form, with Kohli playing characteristically brilliant shots at one end and SKY producing some awestriking strokes at the other. The two added 104 in just 62 balls to set up an important win for India, who took the series 2-1. Yadav scored a belligerent 69 off just 36 deliveries in a knock that included five boundaries and five maximums to also win the man of the match award.
After the game, Kohli lavished praise on his partner in crime, saying that he felt like a spectator watching Yadav play at the other end, and lauded his performances over the last six months in particular.
“For the past 6 months, he’s been outstanding. It’s the array of shots and to play those shots at the right time is such a tremendous skill. He’s a guy who knows his game inside out. He’s got the gift of timing and I was in awe watching him play his shots,”
Kohli said.
Over the past few months, Yadav has completed his transformation into the ideal modern T20 batsman. With the T20 game gradually shifting to short, impactful, high-strike rate knocks over the traditional long innings, where batsmen would take time initially and aim to go berserk towards the end.
Despite MI’s horrendous showing in the Premier League, where they lost eight games on the bounce, in a season where they finished at the bottom of the table, it was SKY who showed promise in a lacklustre Mumbai side. The right-hander scored just in excess of 300 runs in eight games, at a strike rate of over 145.
After the IPL, however, he has elevated his game to dizzying heights, and it is only natural with his performances that he is ranked third in the ICC T20I Player Rankings, only behind Mohammed Rizwan and South African veteran Aiden Markram.
Kohli also mentioned the single-mindedness of Yadav’s batting, praising his clarity of thought, even in pressure situations.
“It’s absolute clarity in what he wants to do. He has the game to bat at any sort of situation, in any conditions, against any opposition,”
Kohli concluded.
