JOIN USThe Suryakumar phenomenon
Wonder what it feels like to be Suryakumar Yadav at the moment.
Wonder what it feels like to be hailed as the best batsman in a line-up that includes Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, among others.
Wonder what it feels like when players from the opposition openly express their desire to get rid of him at the earliest, so he doesn’t cause customary damage.
Wonder what it feels like to bear the massive load of expectations every time he comes out to bat, with millions of fans willing him on to smash fours and sixes for fun.
Wonder what it feels like to repeatedly elicit oohs of appreciation from Kohli, who’s been there and done all that and more before.
Wonder and Suryakumar Yadav, it’s undeniable, have become inextricably interlinked. After all, it was with a wondrous shot that the maverick Mumbaikar announced his arrival in international cricket.
It wasn’t until March of 2021 that, finally, his stunning run in domestic and franchise cricket was deemed sufficient enough for him to merit a place in the Indian Twenty20 International XI. In his first game, against England in Ahmedabad, he wasn’t required to bat as India completed a seven-wicket win. In his next, four days later at the same Narendra Modi Stadium, Suryakumar received his India cap after Ishan Kishan picked up an injury, and was slotted in at No. 3.
His chance came in the fourth over after Rohit Sharma was foxed by a slower delivery variation from Jofra Archer, as quick as any in the business. His tail up, Archer steamed in and let loose a short, fast delivery homing in on the newcomer’s head. Nonchalantly, Suryakumar flitted across his stumps, took his left foot across the right and parallel to the ground and pulled the ball deep into the stands behind fine-leg with minimum of fuss.
Suryakumar had displayed such audacity for Mumbai, for Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians, but to see him replicate the daredevilry at the biggest stage of them all, and off his first delivery in international cricket, was quite a revelation. It was also a foretaste of what was to come.
In the 19 months thereafter, Suryakumar has done Suryakumar things. The shimmy to off to target the area behind square on the onside is as much of a trademark as the gentle stepaway to free his arms and go inside-out over cover. First ball of his innings or the last doesn’t seem to matter. If Suryakumar feels the ball is there to be hit, he will hit it – where he wants to.
Currently ranked No. 3 among T20I batsmen, Suryakumar pays scant regard to statistics. He leaves the number-crunching to those so inclined, focussing his energies on smart, focussed, goal-driven practice where he replicates game scenarios and where, once dismissed, he doesn’t bat again that day. It’s a unique routine – most batsmen use the nets to work assiduously on correcting mistakes – in that Suryakumar denies himself what he loves most, batting, by way of punishment for an error, an extraordinary tack that has worked out wonderfully for him.
A ready smile and the willingness to engage with the crowd has made him an instant hit wherever he has played, and while he isn’t unaware of the tsunami he has triggered in the cricket world, he has embraced the equanimity and poise that allow him to wear that adulation lightly. Within the team, he is immensely popular but no one is more taken in by his fearlessness and absolute free spirit than Kohli, alongside whom Suryakumar has put on 551 runs in 12 innings at an average of 61.22. Kohli, the one-time stormy petrel, is now the ice – who would have thunk?! – to Suryakumar’s fire and brimstone. It’s not exactly the passing of the baton, but if Kohli were to pick an heir apparent, it’s clear who his choice would be.
Wonder what Suryakumar feels about that…