"Learnt how to stay in the zone from Surya bhai" - Atit Sheth on Suryakumar Yadav
Atit Sheth got to share the West Zone dressing room with some veterans of domestic cricket as well as members of the Indian team. The fact that he made his way into a star-studded squad for the Duleep Trophy shows how impressive he has been in domestic cricket for Baroda.
For any young budding cricketer, the experience of rubbing shoulders with veterans helps in their development massively. Naturally, Sheth too saw some qualities and traits that he wanted to incorporate from these domestic stalwarts.
Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda, Atit Sheth opened up on what he has got to learn from Suryakumar Yadav. While 'SKY' is the No.1 ranked T20I batter, he has also been prolific in first-class cricket and Sheth spoke about how strong the mindset of the Mumbai batter is. He said:
"I have learnt how to stay in the zone from Surya bhai, no matter how the performance has been. The way he approached each of his innings in the semifinal as well as the final and also the tips that he has to give to the bowler when he is on the field is something one can learn a lot from."
He also spoke about the likes of Priyank Panchal and Sarfaraz Khan, who have been scoring runs almost for fun in domestic cricket for the past few years. On this, Sheth added:
"The way Priyank Panchal and Sarfaraz have dominated the bowlers in domestic cricket, seeing them bat is a great learning as to how to score a truckload of runs in domestic cricket. There have been similar bowlers in the circuit for the past 3-4 years and both of them have been incredibly consistent."
Atit Sheth on Yashasvi Jaiswal
Atit Sheth and Yashasvi Jaiswal have been a part of the same dressing room a number of times over the past 12 months and the former has seen just how incredibly consistent the southpaw has been.
Sheth wasn't surprised at all to see Jaiswal smash a stunning 171 on his Test debut. The all-rounder feels the opener was always made for the biggest stage. On this, he stated:
"I have been there in the dressing room when he (Jaiswal) scored two hundred on Duleep Trophy debut, when he scored two hundred in Irani Trophy as well as when he scored a hundred for India A. It was clear to see from the way he batted that he belonged to the highest level. It is a huge feat to score hundreds and two hundreds on debut in each tournament. So I definitely feel he will play Test cricket for India for a long time."
Just like impressive performances in the Duleep Trophy and India A helped Jaiswal get fast-tracked into the Indian team, Atit Sheth will be keen to keep on strengthening his claim as one of the best seam-bowling all-rounders in the country.