It was Sachin Tendulkar who said it. I was in his house for his 50th birthday to present him a copy of Sachin@50. The talk came to Surya who wasn’t scoring in the first few games of the IPL. Sachin just dismissed it. “Someone who is able to hit the first ball he faces to fine leg with that timing is surely not struggling for form. Had it gone five meters either way it would have gone for six”, he said. And then added, “All Surya needs to do is be there. He has the ability to demoralise opposition and beat them mentally”.
Anyone who watched Surya against RCB will know Sachin was right. He mostly is! Surya literally toyed with the bowling and by the time he was dismissed MI was 8 shy of victory with 26 balls remaining. Shots all round the wicket, Surya was very much the world’s number 1 batter in the format. And a chase of 200 looked super easy with him out there.
Surya Kumar Yadav, it can be said, has seen it all. For a while in 2020 we had all questioned the index of making the Indian team. The one and only yardstick should be performance. However, in the case of Surya Kumar Yadav there was reason to be believe justice wasn’t served. Surya performed superbly in the IPL. He did so consistently and also did well in domestic cricket in the 2019-2020 season. And yet he was made to wait for far long than he perhaps needed to.
I remember speaking to Surya when he wasn’t getting picked. My question was straightforward- How does a player who is perhaps expecting a national call up take a disappointment like this? What impact can it have on his mental equilibrium? Could Surya overcome his selection blues?
To his credit Surya did just that. Every opportunity he got he made them count. Every match was redemption for him and a platform to showcase his incredible skills and justify the tag as the world’s number one batter. In the last world T-20 in Australia, he was India’s best batter and many believed was also the best in the world.
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And by last night’s effort, he indeed is.
For the period in the IPL Surya isn’t himself. Three consecutive first ball ducks in the ODI’s against Australia and many started to question his ability. And then the start to the IPL was anything but good.
It was classic sport. It tests you however good you are. And if you are a true devotee you will sure find a way out.
Surya has. But he will know better than most that the job isn’t over yet. After poor start, MI has yet again made it back to the top 3 and can smell the play offs. And once there, they are the most dangerous side with 5 titles in the bag. So he will have to push on for a few more games and with him in form, no score is beyond MI.
To go back to Sachin- he can indeed demoralise opposition bowlers as RCB witnessed last night. The world’s best T-20 batter played like the world’s best T-20 batter- for fans in Mumbai there is no better sight than that. Surya is back. And how.