Suryakumar Yadav had just walked into the press conference room, hanging by the door as Paul van Meekeren held forth. The Netherlands pacer was one of only two bowlers to have picked up a wicket in their T20 World Cup game against India which they lost by 56 runs, and van Meekeren was enjoying the attention as much as he had savoured the experience of playing in front of more than 36,000 fans at the historic Sydney Cricket Ground.
Netherlands had been given the ultimate runaround by a thoroughly professional Indian side which tided over early hiccups to amass 179 for two and then restrict their opponents to 123 for nine on Thursday. Paul van Meekeren’s already fruitful night, courtesy the scalp of K.L. Rahul, ended on a personal high as he finished off the contest with a hat-trick of fours off the last three balls of the match from Arshdeep Singh. But like everyone else at the ground, he couldn’t stop talking about Suryakumar Yadav.
On Wednesday evening, some 27 hours before the start of the game, Netherlands captain Scott Edwards had anointed Suryakumar as the biggest threat of all the Indian batsmen. That line-up, mind, includes Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya too, so for the Dutch to identify Suryakumar’s as the scalp they coveted the most must convey something of what the cricketing world thinks of this right-handed Mumbaikar.
Van Meekeren sang a similar tune on Thursday night, unaware of Suryakumar’s presence in the room. “We know how good Sky is,” he said, with a familiarity that was perhaps slightly misplaced, considering this was the first T20I between the two sides. “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 are a bit more traditional.
“They're very good players in their own right, and Rohit played some unbelievable shots. 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. Same with other guys, but he did just a little bit more today.”
It might be tempting to dismiss van Meekeren’s comments as the gushing remarks of a man who had been taken apart by Suryakumar, but the Dutchman is clearly not in a minority. Since his belated international debut in March last year, the 32-year-old has been on a mission to make up for lost time, batting with a freedom and an authority that many crave but only the select few can pull off.
Suryakumar didn’t get to bat on his T20I debut, against England, but when he did take the crease in the next match, he made an immediate impression with his first scoring stroke. Jofra Archer, capable of bowling at the speed of light, had just foxed Rohit with a slower delivery, but against the newcomer, he unleashed a short ball at close to 90 mph. As if he had been doing it all his life, Suryakumar got inside the line of the ball, his right leg firmly implanted in the ground, the left parallel to it as he played a fantabulous pull over fine-leg for six. Archer smiled knowingly, but also knowing that he had been put in his place by a man he thought would be all nerves and uncertainty. As far as opening statements go, you couldn’t have asked for a more impressive one.
Continuing in that same vein, he raced to 57 off 31 deliveries to pick up the Player of the Match award. It might have been his first, but it wasn’t to be his last. A mere 36 T20Is old, Suryakumar has been flirting with greatness – we are not using the word lightly – for a little while now and is on the cusp of special things, Suryakumar things, if you like. South African pace ace Dale Steyn recently compared Suryakumar to the dashing AB de Villiers. Case rested, you say?
At first glance, Suryakumar doesn’t cut a dashing figure at the batting crease. If anything, he looks somewhat ungainly, given the open stance van Meekeren was referring to. Coaches frown upon batsmen who veer away from the conventional, but with Suryakumar, it’s as if convention is what used to be, not what needs to be now. From that open stance, he gets into position remarkably quickly, aided by twinkle toes that are a great ally to have when running between the wickets alongside Virat Kohli, who looks for three when only a comfortable two appears likely.
Suryakumar’s two patented strokes are the shimmy to off, to play wristily behind square on the on-side, and backing away to make room and hit dreamily in the air, inside-out, over cover. Both those trademark shots were on view during his 25-ball decimation of the Dutch which brought him his 10th T20I half-century. He always seemed a step ahead of the bowlers, he seemed to know exactly what they might do, and if he was occasionally ‘confused,’ as he claimed in front of a disbelieving audience, he had Kohli’s counsel to fall back on.
“He just clears your thoughts,” Suryakumar said, self-effacingly. “When I was a little confused, he’d come up to me and tell me what delivery I could expect from a particular bowler. It's a very good camaraderie, I'm really enjoying batting with him right now.”
Suryakumar and Kohli clearly have fun batting with each other. In 12 innings together, they have amassed 551 runs at an average of 61.22, including two centuries and as many half-century stands. Each complements the other, the brazen fire of Suryakumar and the ice – not long back, wasn’t Kohli the brazen fire?! – of the former captain. At Nos. 3 and 4, they form the bulwark of the Indian batting, the fulcrum around which the team revolves.
As for van Meekeren’s comments about how much the Dutch coveted his scalp, even more than Rohit and Kohli, Suryarkumar smiled self-contentedly. An earlier avatar would have put the foot in the mouth effortlessly but the 2.0 iteration is totally in control of itself. “Obviously, I'll take it as a compliment and won't comment on it,” he grinned broadly, leaving plenty left unsaid. “I will just be myself and do what I'm doing, I'll do just that when I'm going into bat. That's it.”
That really is it, isn’t it?
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