Suryakumar Yadav, the Indian middle-order batter, rose to power and strength over the year, on the back of his continued phenomenal run for team India in the T20I and the ODI format. The Indian fans, on the other hand, kept witnessing his stature grow from bedrock to apogee, leaving millions who follow him in awe.
Suryakumar proved his worth during the recently concluded 20-20 World Cup 2022, although many claimed that the batter could not score against big teams. However, the intrepid right-hander showed no signs of weakness during the epic group stage match against South Africa, which the Men in Blue lost despite the batter’s heroics.
Suryakumar opened up on the win and said that it would go down as the best innings of his life. Highlighting the importance of his innings, the batter said that it was important for him to stay on the positive side, given that India were reeling at 49/5 at one stage, with not much to do with the bat barring the presence of the unorthodox batter at the crease.
The practice pitches were quick: Suryakumar Yadav
Notably, the Indian batter has gathered 1164 runs in the shortest format of the game this year, at a whopping strike rate of 187.43, with 2 centuries and 9 half-centuries to his name. Enjoying in what can be called the best phase of his life, Suryakumar would hope to carry on with the momentum and cement his name further in history.
“I think that half-century against South Africa in Perth was the defining knock for me. It was the most challenging wicket I have faced till date. Before the game, I went to bat in the nets for 15 minutes and I got the feeling of Perth there itself,” Suryakumar was quoted as saying by News18.
“The practice pitches were quick. So I faced a mere 15 balls and told Vicky paaji (batting coach Vikram Rathod) that I am done for the day, whatever batting is to be done will be done in the match. When I went in to bat, I told myself ki yeh pitch toh sochne se bhi jyada tez hai (this pitch is quicker than I thought). So, when I went to the non-striker’s end, I kept thinking which shots I could play as there was bounce too. When we were 49 for 5, we had nothing to lose. We could have got all out for 75, but I decided to take the positive route,” he added.
