 "Suryakumar Yadav: Why SKY is not the limit for this batsman")
Commentators have used up most adjectives while describing the batting of Suryakumar Yadav in T20I cricket. The Mumbai batsman has travelled a long distance in a short time, having debuted in Team India colours in a T20I match against England in Ahmedabad in 2021 that the home side won by seven wickets. SKY did not get an opportunity to bat. Less than two years later, he is, quite easily, the best T20 batsman in the world.
SKY’s matchless pyrotechnics was on full display against Sri Lanka in the bilateral T20I series decider in Rajkot, where he unleashed a blitzkrieg to score an unbeaten 112 off 51 deliveries. India batted first on a pitch that offered some assistance to the bowlers to set a target of 229 for the Lankans, who fell short by 91 runs. Rahul Tripathi set the tempo with a quick 16-ball 35 after India had lost opener Ishan Kishan early, but SKY was the real architect of a steep target that proved way beyond Sri Lanka’s reach.
SKY’s shot selection is his instinctive response to field placements. The fact that he has more than one potential response to every delivery makes him a terror-inducing opponent for bowling teams. His use of wrists is magical. The manner in which he scoops the ball over the keeper’s head to send it flying over the boundary while falling on the ground is a sight for the gods. Watching him penetrate the field on both sides is a special experience as he cuts, pulls, whips and scoops to get runs at a mind-blowing rate after the power play with its fielding restrictions ends.
SKY’s statistics after his delayed international debut reveal the significance of his performance as a Man in Blue. He has batted on 43 occasions in 45 matches, scoring 1578 runs at an average of 46.41 with a strike rate of 180.34, which includes three hundreds and 13 fifties. As for his recent consistency, he has scored two centuries and four fifties in his last ten T20 matches in the shortest format of the game. Six fifty-plus scores in ten matches in a format in which batsmen take far more risks in an effort to score at a high rate, and where a quick 20-25 can make the difference between a win and a loss, is phenomenal.
Impact Shorts
View AllIt is true that not all his significant knocks have contributed to Indian wins. His first T20I century, a 55-ball 117, came in a losing cause against England in 2022 in which India fell short of the target of 216 runs by 17 runs. In the ICC Men’s T20I World Cup match against South Africa, he scored an excellent 40-ball 68 out of the modest total of 133 for 9. South Africa overtook that target with five wickets in hand and two balls to spare. In the Pune match in the recently concluded T20I series against Sri Lanka, he scored a 36-ball 51 in a 40-ball partnership with Axar Patel that produced 91 runs. That could not swing the verdict in favour of the home side that lost by 16 runs.
SKY is a big headache for every opposition because of his consistency, along with the ability to hit the ball to every part of the ground. He has been getting runs with such ease that his dismissal seems impossible until he gets out, resulting in a collective sigh of disappointment among fans of Indian T20I cricket.
India has had free-flowing batsmen in the past. Virender Sehwag could destroy an opposition, Kapil Dev was a perfect natural, Krishnamachari Srikanth broke rules and batted like only he could, and Mahendra Singh Dhoni symbolised the art of demolishing rivals with savage force at his peak. An inevitable discussion of the future will hinge on whether or not any of these batsmen would have been as effective as SKY in the shortest format, with experts and ordinary cricket lovers on social media chipping in with their perspectives. That will make for entertaining — and occasionally amusing— reading.
SKY’s career in one-day internationals is not half as impressive. He has 384 runs next to his name at an average of 32 with two fifties in 15 innings, which is quite ordinary for a top-order batsman. He has not played in a single test match, and there may be some doubt about whether or not he can adjust to the demands of slowly evolving situations and accumulate runs with patience. While he will attempt to consolidate his place in the team in these formats — he cannot be kept out of the playing eleven in either — his fans will celebrate him for being a beacon of hope for the Men in Blue in T20I cricket.
The author, a journalist for three decades, writes on literature and pop culture. Among his books are ‘MSD: The Man, The Leader’, the bestselling biography of former Indian captain MS Dhoni, and the ‘Hall of Fame’ series of film star biographies. Views expressed are personal. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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