Indian batter Suryakumar Yadav left everyone stunned with his 360-degree innings against Zimbabwe in Melbourne on Sunday, as he helped India finish at the top of group 2 of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2022.
Opting to bat first after winning the toss, India posted 186/5 in 20 overs with KL Rahul making 51, but it was Suryakumar Yadav who was responsible for the Men in Blue reaching that stiff total. He smacked 61* in 25 balls with 6 fours and 4 sixes to his name, as India scored 107 runs in the last 10 overs.
With this knock, Suryakumar now has 1026 runs in T20Is this year at an average of 44.60 and a strike rate of 186.54. He has also hit 59 sixes in 2022 and has hit one century and 9 half-centuries thus far.
Pakistan legends Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis are in awe of Suryakumar Yadav’s fearless batting approach and feel the Indian batter is not from earth.
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“Mujhe toh lag raha ye kisi aur planet se aaya hai (I think he is from some other planet). He is totally different from anybody else. The number of runs he has scored…he’s just a treat to watch and not just against Zimbabwe, against the top bowling attacks in the world,” Akram said on A Sports.
“He is such a fearless batter. Darna nahi hai, gend lag bhi jaaye.. matlab maja aata hai aise ladke ko khelta dekh kar (He is so fearless that he is not even worried about getting hit on the body. I love watching him play,” added Akram.
Wasim’s fellow panelist Waqar Younis during the discussion, chipped in with a brilliant one-liner, he said: “Bowler jaaye toh jaaye kahaan (Where should the bowler bowled at him). I am just thinking what is the best way of get him out in the T20Is, in ODIs and Test cricket you can plan something set him up. But in T20Is, the bowlers are always on backfoot and against the batter, who is in such good form, and a batter with such a dominant nature. It is very difficult to bowl at him.”
“Sirf ye nahi hai ki ye chakke bade maarta hai… it is just that he hits everywhere. He is 360-degree player.. look at all those boundaries, he can play scoop, can play inside out over the extra cover, can play over backward point, can hit over bowlers head,” added Waqar.
However, Waqar also advised bowlers to try and bounce out Suryakumar Yadav, and pointed out that Pakistani bowlers have done well against him.
He said: “I think Pakistan did well against him; they bombarded him with bouncers. Maybe that’s the only way to go and I hope Pakistan plays India in the final at the MCG, where the pitch is bit spicy, and that would be a good game.”
Shoaib Malik compared Yadav to that student in school, who has done all his homework.
“Surya Kumar Yadav is that student in school, who knows he is fully prepared. When Master Sahib asks in school about the students doing all their homework, such a student speaks before anybody else. Surya knows that he has prepared fully. The best thing about him is that he understands that he is playing in middle-order. He is the prime example to follow for youngsters too. He knows where the fielder comes upfront, he has to target those areas. His utilization of shots is beautiful. He has done a lot of practice with his shots and that’s the main reason for his success,” said Shoaib Malik.
(Indian Express inputs)
