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The Suryakumar Yadav India Needs Right Now Isn’t The Suryakumar Yadav It Has Grown Used To! 

image-lmu3olo0The Australia ODIs will be a litmus test for Suryakumar Yadav [X.com]

Perhaps it makes perfect sense as to why Suryakumar Yadav is nicknamed what he is. More often than not, when he hits the white ball, not necessarily always middling it, but even slicing it with surgical precision, the crowds come in closer contact with a live game of cricket than they already are. 

What’s behind a nickname? 

Primarily because they’ve got to duck for cover at the very right moment or prepare for contact with the rounded object that can cause injury. One of India’s most exciting batsmen to watch averages in T20I’s what most fail to achieve in the one day format despite several appearances: 46. 

He’s got a strike rate of 172.7 in T20I’s, something that would unite Gayle, Warner, Pollard, Buttler and Rohit Sharma in awe. 


Crushing bowlers for fun

Moreover, he needs just a bit of hitting, probably some minor twitch of the muscle to go beyond 100 as his one day international scoring rate. And yet, none of this fully explains the fascination associated with “Sky.”

Few batsmen have generated praise from one of the true greats of modern day cricket, a certain Abraham Benjamin De Villiers himself. Even fewer have drawn comparisons with this true, legit spark of Protea’s fire. 

image-lmu3pw76Suryakumar Yadav is a flamboyant stroke player [X.com]

Not some fresh kid on the block! 

At 33, where he’s neither some young cricketing dynamo, nor among the most experienced bats around, Suryakumar Yadav has made a place in the minds of the audience and sent countless deliveries up into the skies but beyond the realm of catch-ability. 

The first delivery he faced in international cricket whilst wearing the Indian jersey was sent a long way back over fine leg during a T20I at Ahmedabad. 

It was two years back in the day; but the sort of greeting that someone like Jofra Archer isn’t likely to forget in the years to come for he’s easily one of the most difficult men to dislodge. 


Batting Brilliance 

Once, Suryakumar Yadav nearly won a series decider on his own for India and away from the comfort of docile and often somnolent Indian pitches. 

In the summers of 2022, away in England for national duties, he stared at a scorecard that read Kohli, Pant and Rohit dismissed much too early for the fans’ liking or for the team’s good. 

And along came that blitz from the bat; a timely, moving and ultimately uplifting 117 that took, well just 55 deliveries in completion but almost shook England into submission; alas, Suryakumar Yadav couldn’t save india from the eventual 17-run-deficit in the end. 


Big pressure, bigger expectations? 

But all of that said, why Suryakumar Yadav carries the nickname he does is also because at this point in time, he’s clearly amid a sky full of expectations. 

Having played two World Cups in the shortest format, excelling in the 2022 edition, wherein he emerges unbeaten in a third of the innings he played whilst averaging nearly 60 and scoring at 189.6, Suryakumar Yadav is just a few weeks away from facing the most arduous challenge of his career. 

The forthcoming one day World Cup, a first for the man associated with beating the pulp out of the white ball, will require Suryakumar to be maybe leas forthcoming and play with a bit more caution. 


The need to exercise caution 

It’s no surprise that the who’s not just a Mumbai Indian but one of the Indians most admired at the moment in the game of cricket can tear apart any attack. 

We’ve seen that being done to Reece Topley, Mooen Ali, Jofra Archer, even Logan van Beek, Fred Klaassen and most recently, Alzarri Joseph. 

But what Suryakumar Yadav’s fans also saw recently though prior to the famed IPL 2023 was the noted batsman being absolutely clueless against the Aussies. 

image-lmu3ry2iSuryakumar Yadav has had an underwhelming ODI career [X.com]

It took just two Australians- Mitchell Starc and Ashton Agar- in the 3-match one day series held earlier to send Suryakumar Yadav packing with gloomy Indian fans having to watch the domineering batter’s downfall on home turf. 

What a painful sight scoring a duck is. Imagine then having to deal with sustained pressure and resulting frustration given each of Suryakumar’s ducks were first ball dismissals? 

Though seeing that was a painful exercise even for globetrotting cricketing fans who expect dollops from India, in hindsight, it might have been the best thing that happened to him in the one day arena. 

The colossal failure against the Aussies may just have provided the humbling experience that Suryakumar Yadav needed ahead of cricket’s grandest upcoming state: the one day World Cup, which is a first for the stroke maker. His stats don’t quite reflect his enormous ODI potential: 537 runs from 27 matches. 

Though what could be possibly better than having to face the very side again that had downed him right ahead of the ICC 2023 ODI World Cup?


Big challenge up ahead 

While none of us are soothsayers, it can be predicted that the man associated with lofty hits over the fence will probably exercise more restraint in the brand new three match series as a classic reminder to self that he can stick on and bat for longer durations. 

For that’s what the fifty over format requires and will require of a man who’s been persisted with over and above Sanju Samson. 

In an era where there’s often scant regard for playing cricket in a dull or slow pace, it might just be the way for Suryakumar to approach his freshest and newest challenge. 

The need to save his wicket, whilst batting naturally but by also undertaking measured risks. If and once Suryakumar, so naturally gifted, can hold his nerve and build his inning, it seems quite likely that half his battles will be won right there and then. 

The other half can then concern itself with sending bowlers to all sides of the park, which is but second nature to him.