It is not easy being Suryakumar Yadav. He has done it all the hard way since childhood. Do you want to play professional cricket? First, show everyone that you can score runs against the greats in tennis ball cricket. Do you want to climb higher in the order? First finish games for your team, score at a higher strike rate. However, the last part left Surya’s life, at least for now, only in 2018 when he moved from Kolkata Knight Riders to Mumbai Indians. Of course, he had started hitting in the top four in national cricket around the same time.
The Mumbai Indians right-hander who scored an undefeated 79 against the Rajasthan Royals, his highest score in the IPL, began his domestic and IPL career hitting in the low-middle order, but gradually made his way into the top four with consistent performances. (Total IPL Coverage 2020)
SRH vs KXIP score live IPL 2020
“I have enjoyed both roles, I have kept my options open. Even when I started playing national cricket for Mumbai I hit low, but later, based on performance, I got a chance to hit higher in the order. For KKR I battled in the lower order and later when I came here in MI, I was given the responsibility of anchoring the tickets, “Suryakumar told the Hindustan Times in a selected media interaction hosted by the franchise on Thursday.
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It’s been 10 years since Suryakumar made his first-class debut, but his career started to make an upward move only recently. The IPL has played an important role in this. It was here that Suryakumar first captured the limelight by sweeping and sometimes reverse sweeping fast bowlers while playing for KKR. But still, the big momentum was lacking, the only thing Suryakumar could handle was attractive 20s and 30s, which wasn’t enough to push him to the next level. It came when he decided to move out of MI three seasons ago.
Much has changed in Suryakumar’s life in the last 2-3 years, which effectively coincides with his arrival in MI. The Mumbai right-hander not only admitted that these have been his best years as a hitter, but also added that he has matured as a person, learning to focus more on the process than the goal.
“Since the last 2-3 years, I have matured a bit. I have in mind what I want from the game and how to approach things. I realized that if I keep running after one thing, it will keep moving away from me, so instead I have focused on the little things that I can do. If I only think about the goal, then the process is lost, so I thought about giving more importance to the process, “added Suryakumar.
One person who has followed a somewhat similar path to Surya, at least on the rise to the top of the order, is IM Captain Rohit Sharma. Surya said the IM starter has played a critical role in his training as a first-order hitter. All Surya did was ‘blindly follow’ Rohit’s instructions.
“Since 2018, when I started hitting higher in the IM order, I tried the same things that he told me, nothing different, I just trusted him blindly,” Surya said. “Obviously I knew what my game was, but obviously I know what he was trying to tell me. It’s always there, whether it’s on the floor, during play, practice sessions, in the gym. Whenever we meet there is always a conversation. It has been amazing in international cricket for a long time. So every time I sit down and talk to him, I try to grasp all the knowledge, especially on how to get things done while on top of the order. All the time he tells me what he did when he started playing, he shares his experience, he tries to explain different situations because of what has happened ”, he added.
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