"Suryakumar Yadav he said was too long for everyone to call" - MI batter reveals the origin behind his nickname SKY
Team India and Mumbai Indians (MI) star batter Suryakumar Yadav recalled how his now-famous nickname 'SKY' originally came about ahead of the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia at the Oval starting June 7.
The 32-year-old is coming off an incredible IPL season for MI, scoring 605 runs at an average of 43.21 and a breathtaking strike rate of 181.14.
In a video shared by BCCI on their Twitter handle, Yadav spoke about the origin of his nickname SKY. He said:
"It came in 2014/15 when I was playing for my franchise KKR, that time Gauti bhai ( Gautam Gambhir) gave this name because Suryakumar Yadav he said was too long for everyone to call so SKY came from there."
It is worth remembering that Yadav was part of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) setup from 2014 till 2017 when Gautam Gambhir was at the helm.
Despite predominantly batting down the order as a finisher, Suryakumar Yadav played some invaluable knocks in KKR's title run in 2014, averaging 32.80 at a strike rate of 140.17 in 16 matches.
"I love spending time with Ishan and Mohammed Siraj, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin" - Suryakumar Yadav on his favorite teammates
Suryakumar Yadav also spoke about his best mates in the Indian squad as they get set to take on the Aussies in the WTC final.
As Team India underwent intense training and inter-practice matches at the Arundel Castle Cricket Club in Sussex, the Mumbai Indians star spoke about his favorite teammates and the biggest pranksters within the team.
He said:
"Lot of them. If you look around everyone is my best mate but I love spending time with Ishan and Mohammed Siraj, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, good to be around them. [On the best pranksters] Many of them but Ishan Kishan takes the pole position followed by Siraj, Axar Patel."
Yadav also shared his thoughts on his famous 'Supla shot' and how the term came about from tennis cricket.
"The term has come from tennis cricket. I've seen a lot of them when I go back home and the shot means the ball which you hit right behind the wicket-keeper when it's short coming right at your head so it's something like going behind that I love playing," remarked Suryakumar Yadav.
The 32-year-old did not have the best Test debut, scoring only eight in the first Test of the recent Border Gavaskar Trophy in Nagpur.
Yadav did not play in the subsequent games of the series and would hence be looking to make amends should he feature in the playing XI in the WTC final.