Historically, there has been a strong association between a certain player and a specific shot. Like G.R. Vishwanath with the square-cut, for instance. Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar with the bowler’s back-drive. Ricky Ponting and Rohit Sharma with the pull, V.V.S. Laxman with the wristy whip wide of mid-on, Virat Kohli with the cover-drive. Like Rishabh Pant with the falling-down-anything.
Apart from the unclassifiable Pant, the rest are all steeped in orthodoxy. They played their signature strokes with authority and chutzpah, setting impossible benchmarks that the rest strived to emulate. There were others, numerous others, who played those strokes, but with almost – only almost – the same felicity.
And then, there is Suryakumar Yadav, him of the outrageous that he has somehow made remarkably commonplace (for him) in the high-risk Twenty20 iteration. If there is one stroke easily attributable to Suryakumar alone, it is the impossible swat-flick from well outside off that he consistently manages to deposit over fine-leg.
It’s a shot that defies description, geometry, the laws of physics, just about everything you can imagine. It also defines India’s T20I captain, a maverick if there ever was one but who has managed to marry adventurism with a consistency that has netted him an average of 38.20 and the enviable strike-rate of 167.07 across 79 innings at the highest level.
Left-field
Suryakumar was somewhat of a left-field choice for the captaincy of the 20-over side once Rohit pulled the plug on his international career in the immediacy of India’s victory at the World Cup last June. Not that the then 33-year-old wasn’t qualified or that he didn’t have leadership credentials. The popular perception was that Hardik Pandya, Rohit’s deputy at the World Cup and the man who had taken Gujarat Titans to the trophy and then to the final in the first two years of their existence, was a natural successor. Things didn’t pan out that way, Suryakumar stealing the march over his fellow Mumbai Indian who must now be wondering if he should put his captaincy aspirations to bed, permanently.
As skipper, Suryakumar has been singularly on-point in his first year in charge. India have won all four series under him – in Sri Lanka and South Africa, each succeeded by home triumphs against Bangladesh and England. India’s only two losses in 15 matches came in Gqeberha when the Proteas won a low-scoring thriller by three wickets, and against England in Rajkot in January, by 26 runs. Otherwise, they have been unstoppable, their aggressive, entertaining, positive brand of cricket both exhilarating and effective.
Every team takes its lead from its captain, and it’s no surprise to see the Suryakumar stamp on the style of cricket his unit has embraced. It must have been daunting for Suryakumar to inherit the T20 legacy from Rohit, his illustrious Mumbai colleague who managed the twin responsibilities of lead batter and captaincy with tremendous aplomb. There was a definite Rohit touch to India’s march to the World Cup crown in the USA and the Caribbean, his takedown of Australia in the Super Six stage and of England in the semifinal setting the stage for a dramatic heist in a final that seemed to have swung South Africa’s way decisively.
There was no indication of the captaincy affecting Suryakumar’s form when he smashed 58, off just 26 deliveries, in his first outing in charge on a full-time basis in Pallekele last July. When he backed it up with a 12-ball 26 in the next game, it was as if nothing had changed, except for the (capt) suffixing the right-hander. But since slamming 75 against Bangladesh in Hyderabad four games thereafter, Suryakumar has hit a brick wall. His last eight innings have netted him 54 runs with a highest of 21, two ducks and three other single-digit scores. Against England in January, while his mates were filling their boots, he mustered a mere 28 runs in five knocks. Cause for concern? Not necessarily, not yet.
For, just a couple of months later, the Suryakumar of the flourish and the flamboyance, of the extraordinary and the exceptional, was back, strutting the IPL canvas like the master of the shortest format that he is. His travails with India were nowhere in evidence as he danced to 717 runs in 16 innings; five not outs boosted his average to 65.18 but he didn’t need extraneous assistance to rack up a scoring rate of 167.91 runs per 100 balls faced. The sixes flowed with astonishing consistency, only Nicholas Pooran (40) and Shreyas Iyer (39) boasting more ‘maximums’ than Suryakumar’s 38. Of all batters, no one apart from Sai Sudharsan (759) scored more runs. If any doubts had revolved around SKY’s efficiency and if there were fears that he was afflicted by the law of diminishing returns, those were emphatically laid to rest.
It was towards the end of Mumbai Indians’ campaign – they bowed out in the Eliminator – that an old friend (foe?) decided to reacquaint itself. In 2024, Suryakumar had undergone a sports hernia surgery, but the problem had only temporarily been fixed, it seems. The same injury resurfaced this year, necessitating another surgery in Munich in June; it was the third time in as many years (after an ankle surgery in 2023) that Suryakumar had gone under the knife, but that seems to have done little to curb his exuberance or dampen his spirit.
His rehab went to plan, Suryakumar able to fall back on the expertise of the medical staff at the Centre of Excellence (formerly National Cricket Academy) and on his own recovery blueprint of 12 months previously. Having ticked all recovery boxes and cleared fitness tests, he has now taken his rightful place at the helm as India seek to defend the Asia Cup, won admittedly in 2023 in the 50-over format, in the UAE next month.
The continental face-off against strong neighbours is the first stop in the preparatory exercise ahead of the World Cup, to be jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka in February-March. Like at the Asia Cup, India are the reigning champions at the World Cup too, and while the weight of expectations on India is massive wherever they play, that will be amplified given their status as the hosts. Unless something goes drastically wrong in the next six months, Suryakumar will be tasked with the unenviable responsibility of guiding his team’s fortunes in front of passionate but demanding home audiences.
Having been part of the 50-over World Cup squad under Rohit that was irrepressibly brilliant until running into a tartar in Australia in the final, Suryakumar is no stranger to how to cope with the burden of additional pressure. There is much about his captaincy that is an echo of the Rohit school of thought though, wisely, Suryakumar has refrained from entirely drawing from his celebrated senior’s book and sacrificing his own instincts and gut-feel. His calmness in tight corners and his propensity, even willingness, to flash an infectious smile in the most pressure-cooker situations has rubbed off on his teammates, who have approached every match with unshakeable belief, evidenced in each of the three wins in Pallekele last July.
It can no longer be said of India’s T20I team that it is a unit in transition. That period is long over; Rohit and Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja haven’t been forgotten or replaced, but those who have taken their positions have slotted in effortlessly and the process of change has been smooth and seamless. At the Asia Cup, while they will be expected (as ever) to go all the way, they will be as focussed on getting their plans right, on playing smart without compromising on flair, and they will be determined to do everything to ensure that their inspirational captain is back among international runs.
If he were so inclined, Suryakumar will take back his No. 3 slot from Tilak Varma, the left-hander who asked for the captain’s position and justified that request with back-to-back centuries in South Africa. It’s at one-drop that Suryakumar has had the greatest success, but one can safely presume that Suryakumar will not insist on batting at that number alone. At the end of the day, his goals and ambitions are allied with that of the team’s; head coach Gautam Gambhir is almost obsessively consumed by left-right combinations, which will in all probability dictate batting orders. It’s impossible to see Suryakumar demanding that he come in every time at the fall of the first wicket. For one thing, he isn’t built that way; for another, he has enough confidence in his abilities to not be able to succeed elsewhere in the order. He will be mindful of the need to get his international bat out of the freezer and warm it up for the equally tougher challenges ahead, but he won’t lose too much sleep if the big runs continue to elude him so long as the team is on the upwardly mobile path.
Suryakumar has been reunited with his deputy on the tour of Sri Lanka, Shubman Gill, who has since established himself as the Test leader. It will be interesting to see how the duo functions as a unit; Suryakumar won’t shy away from picking the brain of his much younger vice-captain who is tipped to take over as skipper after the World Cup while Gill, now self-confident and tactically more accomplished after the epic 2-2 stalemate in England, will be keen to weigh in with pithy inputs.
It helps that neither man has the slightest insecure bone in his body, which should augur well as India brace for a minimum of 21 T20Is in the build-up to the World Cup.
His legacy as the premier T20I batter firmly established, never mind what the rankings say, Suryakumar will be keen to follow in the footsteps of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Rohit when it comes to the World Cup. What better way to celebrate his glorious run in a format he loves, and that loves him back without inhibition, than with another World Cup winner’s medal, this time shaped by both his bat and his leadership.
