5 most jaw-dropping shots by Suryakumar Yadav in his career
Indian batter Suryakumar Yadav seems to be on a mission to redefine the textbook of cricketing strokes. The 32-year-old batter has left no stone unturned in accessing every corner of the park with the bat in hand, toying around with any and every bowler in his path.
After a stupendous T20 World Cup 2022 campaign, 'SKY' carried his purple patch into the second T20I against New Zealand at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on Sunday, November 20. On a surface where every other batter seemed to struggle, he made it look like a stroll in the park, notching up his second T20I hundred along the way.
It's hard to find words that aptly describe some of the shots he executes with minimal fuss. Comparisons of his range with South African great AB de Villiers have become inevitable and the world's top-ranked T20I batter continues to outdo his own brilliance with each passing game.
It's quite a task to pick just five standout shots in Suryakumar's international career thus far that have left fans all around the world gobsmacked. But we made an attempt at the same below:
#5 Carve over third man against England, 2022
India were chasing leather against England in the third T20I at Trent Bridge earlier this year. With Rishabh Pant, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma dismissed early, the visitors were in all sorts of trouble in pursuit of 216.
Suryakumar took centerstage though and rendered the bowlers clueless. While he accessed pretty much every corner of the ground, one shot, in particular, stood out. Batting on 65, he gave himself room to carve a Richard Gleeson delivery nonchalantly over the square third-man fence for six.
India fell short of the target once 'SKY' departed for a blistering 117, which remains one of the best knocks played in T20Is.
You can watch the shot at 4:30 in the video embedded above.
#4 Uses the pace of Lockie Ferguson, 2022
Suryakumar Yadav is making international cricket look like a video game 🤯
111* off 51 💥
He's a cheat code! https://t.co/aM1V2clUdw
Amidst his incredible pick-up shots over fine leg, Suryakumar also uses his smarts to great effect. He displayed the same during his century against New Zealand in Mount Maunganui, using the pace of Lockie Ferguson to pocket a boundary.
Ferguson attempted a wide yorker as he began the 19th over, only to see it being shoveled with an air of arrogance over the short third-man fielder.
It was a shot of a man at the absolute peak of his powers and you can watch that at 0:56 in the video tweet embedded above.
#3 Arrives in international cricket with a six off Jofra Archer, 2021
Facing up to a certain Jofra Archer firing rockets ahead of your first ball in international cricket. Nerves? Pah! Suryakumar clearly doesn't know what that means.
In a poetic sign of what was to come over time, he shuffled across his stumps, lifted his front foot, and whipped a short of a length delivery on the off stump over the long leg fence.
Having struck a 31-ball 57, he walked away with the Player of the Match honors as India beat England by eight runs. Suryakumar had well and truly arrived!
#2 Carts Richard Ngarava in the T20 World Cup clash against Zimbabwe
In their last Super 12 fixture of the T20 World Cup 2022, India stumbled along against Zimbabwe after a solid start. When Suryakumar strode out it seemed as though he was keen to explore every nook and corner of the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The Zimbabwean seamers gave it everything. They tried to take the pace off and attempted the wide yorker. But, as most bowlers have found over time, they had no clue about the wizardry of SKY.
Out of the many outrageous shots executed that evening, the six off the third ball of the final over bowled by Richard Ngarava stood out.
Having shuffled a mile across his stumps, he parked his front foot across before twirling his wrists to take the ball on the full and deposit it over the backward square leg fence.
#1 Carves a six over third man against New Zealand, 2022
We'll never know how Suryakumar played this shot. We're back to the Bay Oval and Ferguson, who took a pasting in the 19th over, was in for more. A full-length delivery on the line of the off stump was carved with artistic dexterity as it went ballooning towards the grass banks over the third-man fence.
Not only did it go a fair distance, but the ball soared over the tents in the concerned region. From fans in the vicinity and Craig McMillan on air to just about everyone who witnessed the shot, Suryakumar left the world spellbound yet again.
What is your favorite pick among these shots played by Suryakumar Yadav? Let us know in the comments section below!