Delayed debut made me hungrier: Suryakumar Yadav | Cricket news

NEW DELHI: Suryakumar Yadav was 30 when he made his international debut against England in March 2021. It was quite a long wait, but he was scoring runs in domestic cricket and never stopped knocking on the selectors’ door.
Known as SKY to his teammates and fans, Surya says the anticipation made him even hungrier to succeed, as he showed with his third T20I century in less than a year during India’s 91-run win over Sri Lanka in the third T20I in Rajkot on Saturday.
Surya smashed a blistering 51-ball 112 not out in India’s dominant win, which also saw the hosts beat the three-match T20I series 2-1.
“It makes me even hungrier (sic) now,” Surya told Team India head coach Rahul Dravid in a chat hosted by BCCI.tv when asked if the long wait has taught him to value success much more.

“I mean the amount of domestic cricket I have played, I have always enjoyed playing it in my state in Mumbai and I always try to put on a show.

“I enjoyed batting there (domestic cricket) too. Yes it was a bit challenging in the last few years but I kept telling myself this is why you play this game, (so) enjoy it. The passion for this game drove me. , so I just kept going.”

Since making his ODI and T20I debut in 2021, Surya has played 16 ODIs and 45 T20Is for India, scoring 384 runs (avg. 32.00) and 1578 runs (avg. 46.41).

The middle-order batter’s hundred on Saturday was his third in T20Is in just seven months, making him the first player in the history of the game to score three T20I hundreds while not opening the batting.

“It’s actually hard for me to pick one innings… I enjoyed batting in all the tough situations I went in to bat. I just enjoyed myself, whatever I did in the last year. I’ve done the same. thing again.
“Like I said earlier, I’m just trying to enjoy and express myself as much as possible. In those tough situations, teams are trying to get the game going. I’m trying to move the game forward. If it works well for me and the team, I’m happy,” Surya said.

So how many shots from his club are predetermined? head coach Dravid asked the 360-degree player.
“I mean obviously in this format you have to be a bit pre-determined and at the same time you have to take another shot if the bowler is a step ahead at that time. But yes, I try to play to the pitch, where the fielders are, what bowler can bowl at that time and it works out.”
“…I set the field for myself whenever a left-arm bowler or a leg-spinner or a fast bowler bowls and I just try to time the ball as much as possible.”
(with income from PTI)