T20 World Cup: Legend in the making? Indian players praise 'phenomenal talent' Suryakumar Yadav

The Men in Blue are heading into the Group 2, Super 12 match with Bangladesh on Wednesday, after a five-wicket loss to South Africa

By ANI

Published: Wed 2 Nov 2022, 12:49 PM

On Wednesday, star Indian batter Virat Kohli praised Suryakumar Yadav's "phenomenal talent", saying that players with that level of talent do not come into the system regularly.

India will take on Bangladesh in their Group 2, Super 12 clash of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup on Wednesday.

"Sky [nickname for Suryakumar] is a phenomenal talent. You do not get guys with that kind of talent coming to the system regularly. He does not play random cricket shots. His execution rate is ridiculous. He knows his game inside out. He knows exactly what he needs to do. He is in his best phase now. The next 4-5 years could be a great run for him," said Virat in a video posted by ICC.

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Veteran wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik said that if Suryakumar continued to bat like this in coming few years, he would end up as a T20I legend.

"He bats fearlessly without worrying about results. That is where he gets his rewards from," explained skipper Rohit Sharma about his long-time Mumbai Indians (MI) teammate in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Team India head coach Rahul Dravid said that Suryakumar Yadav had a lot of shots for every kind of ball, as well as the ability to work gaps and find places in the field that other people find difficult.

"Everywhere he goes, he has been able to adapt, learn and sculp his game as per conditions. He is always smiling and looks like he is enjoying the game; it rubs off onto the rest also," he added.

Spinner Arshdeep Singh said that he was still short of words to describe Suryakumar's batting. "Some of the shots he plays, we do not know how he is able to execute them," he said.

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Suryakumar said that his journey has been wonderful and that he enjoys every bit of it.

"From all the practice sessions and sacrifices, here I am enjoying it. If you want to succeed in international cricket, you have to stay a step ahead. I started to practise all the strokes, wondered where the runs are at the ground and started to explore all parts of the ground."

"I heard something from Sachin Tendulkar; someone who played international cricket for 24 years, that he still had some things to learn during his final Test match. My journey has just started; I have still got a lot to learn," he concluded.

The batter is going through an incredible run of form this year. In 2022, Suryakumar scored 935 runs in 26 matches across 26 innings at a brilliant average of 42.50. He has scored a century and eight half-centuries this year, with the best score of 117, which came against England. He is also the highest run-scorer in the format this year.

Coming to India's match, the Men in Blue are heading into the game after a five-wicket loss to South Africa. On the other hand, Bangladesh won their previous game against Zimbabwe by three runs.

India is now in the second position with four points and two wins in three matches, while Bangladesh is in the third position with four points and two wins in three matches.