Adelaide: Suryakumar Yadav had a rather sheepish smile on his face as Netherlands pacer Paul van Meekeren described at length how the India batter is now a big threat to the opposition.
Suryakumar had made a rollicking 51 off 25 balls against the Dutch at Sydney and Meekeren’s awe and admiration were very much vindicated.
But you raise the argument that Netherlands is still a greenhorn in International cricket and they don’t often bowl to batsman of Suryakumar’s quality, and the Mumbaikar also came to bat after Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli had given him a launching pad.
On Sunday, Suryakumar produced an innings of rare ebullience against a world-class South African attack consisting Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Wayne Parnell and Tabraiz Shamsi.
Stunning innings
His 68 off 40 balls was stunning in the way it was played. The numbers are quite impressive. Suryakumar hammered 3 sixes and 6 fours whereas the rest of the India batsmen managed 2 sixes and 3 fours between themselves. He made his runs at a strike rate of 170 while the next best strike-rate among frontline batters was 109.09 by Virat Kohli.
It is also the best strike rate across both the teams and the second best in the match was 128.26 by David Miller. Make no mistake, it was not an easy pitch to bat on as there was enough life in the Perth pitch to keep the bowlers an interested lot.
But Suryakumar was unafraid of unfurling his shots even on a spicy pitch. Rabada tried a short-pitched delivery on the off-stump but he muscled it though mid-off with a shot that had more resemblance to a forehand in tennis.
There were classic shots too like that beautiful on-drive past Ngidi to get to his fifty. This amalgamation of classicism and irreverence makes Suryakumar’s batting an incredible treat to watch.
ANI
It was this aspect of Suryakumar’s batting that Meekeren highlighted. “I think we know how good SKY is. Over the last 12 months, if not longer, I've personally felt he was the biggest threat to bowl to. Just with his open stance, I just felt that the margin of error was a lot smaller compared to Kohli and Rohit who maybe a bit more traditional.
"They're very good players in their own right, and Rohit played some unbelievable shots too. When I was bowling, I felt the biggest pressure came when I was bowling to SKY. Obviously, if you miss a little bit, he punishes you,” said Meekeren.
Enchanting style
But there is another enchanting angle to Suryakumar’s batting — calmness. He goes about all this in perfect calm. There are no outlandish celebrations, stares and snarls back at bowlers, but he is focused on the job at hand.
Remember his ‘Main Hoon Na’ reaction after guiding Mumbai Indians to a win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL 2020. He was so calm after marshalling a tough chase then. Now, he has taken that attitude to the top most level as well. He knows his range and he is confident about its execution.
Suryakumar entered the field when India were at 26 for 2 and soon they slipped to 49 for 5. But Suryakumar battled against a set of raging bowlers to keep India going.
That blend of amazing skill and an immovable mind is the core to Suryakumar’s art. Hello world! Wake up to a bright, new SKY!
