Obviously, when you have the luxury of an explosive pitcher like Suryakumar Yadav in your ranks who could tear any bowling attack on his day, the life of a captain can become easy.
“Today, it feels like Sri Lanka against Surya. So it makes my life very easy. That’s why I always mention that someone like Surya is so important to us in whiteball cricket, because the way he changes (the match), the way he plays some of those shots, he It really broke the pitcher’s spirit, it helped other pitchers as well,” said India’s T20I captain Hardik Pandya said post the match. “Overall, Surya and Rahul Tripathi (smashing 35 in just 16) are both excellent,” he added.
In the dressing room, what does he say to a player like Surya before he plays? “You didn’t tell him. See, the kind form Surya is playing, the clarity he has, you don’t have to go and talk to him. He’s always been very clear about his plans, and that’s why he’s successful in this form. He did not doubt his ability. Whenever he hesitated, he always came (to me) We talked. It’s just about giving a little clarity..it’s about..you know, just go out there and enjoy, what he does. I don’t think anyone has to say anything to him,” explained Pandya.
“I thought it was a great round. Our pitchers tried a few plans but clearly didn’t work. That half took the game (from us). Suryakumar is attacking at 200 (attack rate) and he stays (his SR) until he reaches one hundred. So it was a special skill he had acquired. I think he took our game away today with his batting skills,” commended Sri Lanka batting coach Naveed Nawaz.
𝓢𝓮𝓷𝓼𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓪𝓵 𝓢𝓾𝓻𝔂𝓪 3⃣3⃣rd T20I for @surya_14kumar and this is an excellent shot 🧨 🧨#INDvSL… https://t.co/1MVd
– BCCI (@BCCI) 1673104369000
Navaz believes that’s helping players like Surya as they practice for hours every day on some unorthodox shots at the net, before trying them out mid-court. “It’s about answering the questions pitchers ask you. Today’s pitchers go out on the field with something quite different like the slower, York wide ball. So as a hitter, you have different answers to those questions. So they attend training sessions and try to find answers to various questions pitchers ask them. They train in different ways,” he analyzed.
What makes a pitcher like him more dangerous is his ability to execute unorthodox shots like toss and wipe out fast pitchers with ridiculous ease. “I think it’s about pushing boundaries these days. A lot of the things that cricketers do today, if we had done it 10-15 or 20 years ago… players said you can’t do it, you can’t do this. But today, with T20 cricket, players are pushing boundaries. Players are looking to score points – some in a mainstream way and some in an unorthodox way. Overall, they succeeded in that. Nawaz, who coached Bangladesh to win the U19 World Cup in February 2020, feels it’s all about finding a way and also the kind of pushing boundaries as hitters.
