With his supreme consistency, Suryakumar Yadav has carried the Indian batting with great skills and flair in T20In cricket ever since his debut last year. The right-hander was one of India’s standout batters at the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia and rose to the top of the ICC T20I batting rankings while at it.
The 32-year-old carried that form on the ongoing New Zealand tour, scoring a brilliant 111* off 51 in the second T20I at the Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui, setting it up for a comprehensive 60-run win. It was his second hundred in the format, the first having come against England at Trent Bridge earlier this year.
Suryakumar, who has aggregated 5326 first-class runs at 44.01, with 14 hundreds till date, was optimistic regarding his Test future when asked of the same recently.
Meanwhile, Vinayak Mane, Suryakumar’s former Mumbai teammate and now a renowned coach in the domestic cricket circuit talked of the versatile batter’s future in Test cricket.
“You can’t predict whether Suryakumar Yadav will be successful in Test matches but I can vouch that he will make the effort if he is given a chance,”
he told PTI.
With his brilliant ball-striking and a scarcely believable range, Suryakumar has established himself as a 360-degrees batter, which has prompted appreciation even from former South Africa great AB de Villiers in recent times. Mane further acknowledged the role of a few other individuals who helped Suryakumar evolve in his game.
“Credit should go to Mr. Khodadad who also is fond of Surya. At the Parsee Gymkhana ground, we specially got a hard wicket prepared for his training with a liberal sprinkling of grass. One of my students, who is a Mumbai U-23 player, Om Keshkamat, acted as a left-arm side-armer giving throw-downs with the robo-arm. Surya is also fond of Om. I also had all kinds of bowlers giving him a decent practice.
“It would be different for chasing where targets would be like 28 from 2 overs and if batting first, say 30 runs from powerplay overs 4-6. He would often say, that set me a field and if I get out, I will come out, so that he is in the match mode. He always had these shots. What he has now developed is even tighter technique,”
Mane said.
Having won the three-match T20I series 1-0, India are currently trailing 0-1 in the ODI series, having lost the opener at the Eden Park, Auckland by seven wickets, following which the second game in Hamilton ended in a draw. The third ODI – the last game of the tour – will be played at the Hagley Oval, Christchurch on Wednesday, November 30.
