SL v IND 2021: ‘It has been worth the wait’, Suryakumar Yadav after winning Player-of-the-Series award

Suryakumar registered scores of 31*, 53 and 40 in the three ODIs against Sri Lanka.

By Salman Anjum - 24 Jul, 2021

After a memorable T20I debut series against England earlier this year, India’s middle-order batsman Suryakumar Yadav did a brilliant job in his maiden ODI series as well.

During the just-concluded three-ODI series against Sri Lanka, Suryakumar registered scores of 31*, 53 and 40 and earned the Player-of-the-Series award as India won the rubber 2-1.

See Also: “Think we were 50 runs short”, admits Shikhar Dhawan after India’s loss in third ODI

Reflecting on his success, Suryakumar said he would build on his experience in Sri Lanka in his career going forward.

"Obviously, everyone dreams of playing for India. And it has been a lot of effort, grind, a lot of patience behind this. And it has been worth the wait and I am really happy about it," Suryakumar said at the virtual post-match press conference on Friday (July 23).

"From here on how I build it, it is all in my hands, and I am really excited for the journey ahead."

The right-hander, however, was disappointed at not being able to play a big knock.

"The way I started in the first game, I got good confidence and in the second game, it was a perfect situation in the middle to win a game for the team, but that time also, it was not the way I play and I got out," he said.

"Really disappointed with that. And in the third game also, it was a good opportunity, wickets were falling from one end, to hold one end and try and play till the end, but could not do it.

"So that's the two things I am really keeping in mind, how do I build from here, but that is how you learn and move forward."

When asked about his ability to play a range of strokes, Suryakumar said: "Whenever you grow up in Mumbai, the types of wickets you get over there in club games and in domestic cricket, they are very challenging, so there you automatically have to think what strokes you have to play on those kind of wickets.

"The same thing I have been carrying to international stage as well and I will be doing the same thing."

Suryakumar Yadav showered rich praise on opener Prithvi Shaw and leg-spinner Rahul Chahar, who picked three wickets in the third match, which was also his debut ODI game.

"I have only one word for him (Shaw) whenever I see him bat or whenever I meet him, I call him a 'show stopper'. So whenever he bats, he is that way and I would love to see him remain the same," he said.

"He is batting brilliantly, his attitude while batting is brilliant, he has worked very hard on his fitness and it is good to see him doing so well and I am excited about it and we are really looking forward to seeing him in T20s."

Commenting on Chahar, Yadav said: "He has been doing it now and then for us in the Mumbai Indians also. He has got a lot of confidence from them. The way he was supported by our team management (MI), that was really nice to see and when he came back, he came with a man-of-the-match performance.

"Same culture was here as well (sic), he was playing his first ODI, there was a lot of support from team management [and] all the players on the field. I was happy to see him bowl so well. There was a little bit of dew as well, the wicket was not [very] helpful for bowlers but he extracted spin really well from the wicket and I am happy for him," he concluded.

(With PTI inputs)

By Salman Anjum - 24 Jul, 2021

TAGS