Suryakumar Yadav has been one of the most exciting batsmen in the Indian domestic circuit and has captained the Mumbai limited overs side as well. His exploits in the IPL for Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders are well documented.
However, people used to point fingers at Suryakumar, thanks to his habit of throwing his wicket after settling down. However, this domestic season, Suryakumar has scored 217 runs in eight games at average of 54.25, strike rate of 188.69 in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and 295 runs in six games at average of 59.00, with a strike rate of 111.74 in the Vijay Hazare league stages for Mumbai.
Suryakumar is definitely talented and with his new found consistency, has the ability to fulfill his goal of playing for India in near future. Talking to Times of India, Suryakumar said, “I’m still hungry to play for India, but, I’ve showed that hunger only in the last year or so. You can say: ‘Der aye, par durust aye. (Better late than never).”
“I analysed my game in limited-over formats before the start of this year’s edition of the Mushtaq Ali T20. I realised that there were very few games in which I’ve helped my team win a match. So, my focus was to correct that trend. I wanted to stay till the end for my and the team’s sake. I know that if I stay around, I have the strokes to help my team win,” he further said.
Suryakumar credited the change in his game to modifications in his routine. “Rather than thinking about the results, I began to focus on the process. Obviously, my natural game is attacking, but the idea was to curtail risky shots and try to stay till the end. I practised in the nets accordingly,” he observed.
He insisted that meditation has helped him as well, “I’ve started meditating since the last three-four months. It’s one of the reasons which has helped me do well. I’ve started thinking about the game more in the last six months, knowing my strengths and weaknesses.”
Suryakumar said about his role as preparation as a finisher, “I’m trying to bat in the same way in which I’d bat in a game. I try to bat till the point I’m really tired, so that it prepares me for a situation wherein I’m batting in the last three-four overs after being there in the middle for a long time.”
Talking about his failure to build upon his initial success, Surya said, “I wasn’t thinking or analysing too much. I needed to work much harder in the nets to stay one step ahead of the game, but I didn’t do it. Slowly, I’ve realised in the last couple of years that I lacked something.”
Suryakumar has also battled behavioral issues in the past, but said, “I thought of getting over this thing completely before this season. There’ve been a few things, but at the end of the day, the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) is my home, which has helped me come up in life, and helped me in my younger days.”
