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Find ball 9.3 of India’s innings in the third T20I against the West Indies and replay it several times to try to read Suryakumar Yadav’s thinking. Rarely do you see a modern hitter maintain his stance after a satisfying stroke. And the range is also rather limited these days. Perhaps a flawless straight drive in Tests? Or is it a full-blooded hoick in mid-air? Yadav missed both, but it was the money shot of the match, if not the entire tour.
It wasn’t an awful performance. Alzarri Joseph dug in a ball that was rising from an odd length and was perhaps best guided towards the third man or dragged towards midwicket. Yadav chose the third and most daring choice, lifting it through the line over mid-off, off the front foot. Aside from the quick backlift that sent the ball over the rope, it was all-time and had very little force. Yadav was so convinced of his abilities and the connection that he hoisted his bat aloft just to rub it in. Two balls later, Yadav sank to his knees, arched back, and blasted Joseph’s back of the length delivery over slip for a boundary, demonstrating his mental clarity.
Nonetheless, Yadav was far from batting haphazardly. Since July 2019, India’s record in T20I chases has been good (18 victories and two defeats), but the target (165) proved difficult, and Rohit Sharma retired injured after straining a back muscle. Yadav, on the other hand, kept the batting order calm by tempering the chase with his particular style of batting.
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“It was critical for someone to bat 15-17 overs after Rohit went back inside,” Yadav said after India’s seven-wicket triumph, which gave them a 2-1 lead in the five-match series. “We watched what occurred in the second inning yesterday.” It was critical for someone to bat deep and win the game, and that’s what I’ve been focusing on. “I’m just backing myself and having fun.”
Yadav is not India’s preferred opener. When he heals, he will most likely hand up that position to KL Rahul. However, Yadav’s unique selling point is that he scores everywhere he is deployed. Yadav, who has already established himself as a reliable No 4 in ODIs, has now struck at least one fifty and reached No 5 in T20Is in the last year. The strike rates have also been nothing short of spectacular, with 168.18 as the opener, 157.14 at No. 3, 184.5 at No. 4, and 202.04 at No. 5.
Yadav’s range has perhaps increased more than any other current batter’s – he now has a shot on practically every ball. If left-arm bowler Obed McCoy got the ball away from Yadav, he’d stride across and narrow the angle before driving it to mid-on. The following over, the identical ball was neatly cut between slip and short third man. Yadav defied the lines by slicing Joseph over the slip cordon for a six, sliding over the stumps to slice-drive Dominic Drakes over point for four, or clearing his front leg to wallop Jason Holder over a defender at mid-on for four.