Suryakumar Yadav: Try to follow the same batting mantra as AB de Villiers

Having spent almost a decade in domestic cricket before his India debut, Suryakumar Yadav stressed that flexibility is the key to success for a T20 batter.

Suryakumar made his India debut just last year, and has scored 811 T20I runs so far at an average of 36.86 and strike rate of 173.29.  | Photo Credit: AFP

Be it the Indian Premier League or international cricket, Suryakumar Yadav has batted everywhere from No. 1 to No. 7 and has been effective in each of his roles. The maverick batter is enjoying his current responsibility of batting at No. 4 heading into the T20 World Cup in Australia from October 16.

“I love batting at all the positions, and I am loving batting at No. 4 because I feel it challenges me a lot. I am really enjoying it,” Suryakumar told Sportstar before leaving for Mohali for the first T20I versus Australia.

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Being flexible

Having spent almost a decade in domestic cricket before his India debut, Suryakumar stressed that flexibility is the key to success for a T20 batter. “With the way things are going, you have got to be very flexible right now to bat at any number. You have to adapt to the situation. You need to do what is required in that situation,” Suryakumar said.

“If you go in the seventh over, you need to understand what to do. And in the end, if you go in at No. 7, you need to score like a 12-ball 25, and you need to know how to make it happen. It’s not that difficult, but you have to be very clear with your plan.”

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The AB template

Suryakumar, thanks to his 360-degree game, is often compared with South Africa's AB de Villiers. Suryakumar has been trying to emulate de Villiers' model of batting conventionally in the nets before letting himself loose in T20 games.

“I actually try to follow the same mantra as him. I have heard the same from many players who played with him at RCB. Whenever he bats in the nets, he tries to bat normally. He tries to watch the ball closely and does nothing fancy. So I also started doing that and kept it (risky shots) safe for the matches,” Suryakumar said.

Not desperate

Despite India’s disappointing campaigns in the 2021 T20 World Cup and the recent Asia Cup, Suryakumar stressed that the team is not desperate to turn the tide in Australia next month. “There is no desperation, but behind it, there has been amazing preparation that we have been doing over the last six months. We are going really well. We also want to turn the tide around.

“When you get desperate, you forget your processes, your routine. Then something can go up and down. Instead, you follow the same thing you have been doing over the last few months, and the results will come your way.”