Another day, another blazing fifty. We are living in Suryakumar Yadav’s world, and it is absolutely no fun being a bowler in this world. 51 runs | 25 balls | 7 fours | 1 six. On a day when even Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli got fifties of their own, Surya has managed to steal the show, and how! 

“I’ll take it as a compliment, and will just be myself and keep doing what I do while going in to bat,” SKY said rather sheepishly, almost embarrassed at being called the biggest threat in the Indian team for the opposition at the post-match press conference on Thursday (October 27) after India completed a 56-run thumping of the Netherlands. 

His partnerships with Virat Kohli are becoming legendary. Kohli’s reactions and expressions to some of Surya’s extravagant shots are a big reason for the hit pairing. Clearly Surya enjoys the experience too. “When I was a little confused while batting, he (Kohli) just cleared my thoughts and told me what delivery to expect from the bowler. It is a very good camaraderie and am enjoying batting with him right now,” he said. 

“I feel we respect each other’s’ game while batting together. For example, when I get a few boundaries, he just rotates the strike and keeps the intent. We just have respect for each other and enjoy batting together. We run hard too and really looking forward to having many more partnerships with him.” 

Again, it’s the favourite word in Indian cricket he refers to, the process. His success, his runs, his consistency, is all, he says, down to his practice sessions, his process. 

“In my practice sessions back home in Mumbai, in the nets, I just put a lot of pressure on myself.  If I am looking to play a certain number of balls to get ‘n’ number of runs and I get out, I come out. I don’t go in to bat again. The same reflects in my game. I just express the shots I have and don’t do anything out of the box. My plans have been very clear. It has been helping me. It is important to see the situation. When I go in to bat, either we are two down for not much, or we are two down for a lot of runs. My role is simple. If a lot of runs have been scored, I look to maintain the tempo. Else, I look to get my team’s score up to that tempo. I just play my percentage cricket shots. Even when it doesn’t go well, I bank on my game.” 

It might look all too beautiful and easy right now, but Surya knows the effort that’s gone in over the years. And as he said, he’s just eating the fruits of it.