India all-rounder Hardik Pandya said on Thursday heaped rich praise on Suryakumar Yadav, saying that the India batter has been making the most of his opportunities in T20I cricket despite having earned his India call-up "late".
Hardik said that his former Mumbai Indians teammate should have played for India at least two years earlier but the hunger is helping him reach new heights.
The Mumbai-born batter has been a revelation for the Indian team in 2022 in T20Is, scoring over 1000 runs with 9 half-centuries and 1 century to his name, and has been a shining light in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2022 as well for them.
"Suryakumar Yadav entered international cricket a little late. I think he should have played for India at least two years back,” Hardik Pandya told Star Sports.
Hardik Pandya also said he was trying to stay calm and help keep his teammates composed ahead of the big semi-final against England at Adelaide.
"Pretty excited. Every ball will matter a lot but at the same time, trying to keep everyone calm and follow the processes. A lot of people ask me how I keep myself calm. It comes from preparation and you know when the time comes, you will be able to perform," Hardik added.
In the conversation, Pandya also shut down critics of India batting great Virat Kohli, who is the highest run-getter in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2022 with 246 runs to his name before the England semi-final.
He went on to say that Kohli has been performing at the top level for many years and took a dig at the people who doubted his credentials heading into the T20 World Cup.
"Either we are not batting well or they (Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav) are just from a different planet. Virat Kohli has been doing this for years.. he didn't get many runs for a couple of months and a lot of people said a lot of things," said Pandya.
England had won the toss and elected to field first in the second semi-final in Adelaide.
