Suryakumar Yadav impressed one and all in his first international game during the five-match T20I series against England earlier this year. The 30-year-old made his much-awaited debut for India in the second T20 International of the five-match series.
Yadav didn’t get an opportunity to bat as another debutant Ishan Kishan took away all the limelight. He was then dropped from the third T20I but he returned back in the next match to prove his mettle as a top-order batsman. Walking at number three, the 30-year-old made heads turn with a brilliant half-century guiding India to a challenging total.
I was nervous from inside – Suryakumar Yadav
Suryakumar Yadav was awarded the man of the match for his splendid effort. The right-hander opened up on the range of emotions he went through while making his debut. Suryakumar revealed that he wasn’t much happy as Rohit Sharma lost his wicket and was marching back to the pavilion. However, there was some nervousness too but he calmed himself down by reminding his mind that he just has to play his natural game.
“If you would have seen properly, I was very excited at that time. Also, I was not happy at that time since Rohit (Sharma) had got out, but when I was going to bat, I was running in, so that shows how excited I was,” Surya said in a video shared by Mumbai Indians on Twitter.
“When I padded up and came to the dug-out, I was nervous, and it should be that way, if you don’t get nervous, how would you perform. When I was going inside, everything started running in my mind, what I have done when I bat at three. I got my answer when I said to myself ‘don’t do anything different, do the same thing, be yourself, that’s it,” he added.
Suryakumar Yadav got off to a memorable start as he smashed a scintillating maximum to Jofra Archer. When asked about the same, Yadav revealed that he was aware of the game plan of Archer since he played against him during the Indian Premier League.
“People speak about the six, what were you feeling on the first ball after making India debut. It was necessary to be a bit calm and I knew what Archer had been doing in the IPL, how he comes hard at the batters. So, at the back of the mind there was a thought that he (Archer) would bowl that particular ball and good that he bowled the same delivery,” the batter concluded.
