The 2018 edition of the IPL will be remembered for some fine hitting. The likes of Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu and Surya Kumar Yadav were clinical. Surya Kumar, who hogged the limelight after his consistent cameos for KKR in the past, was tasked to open the innings.
Being a reputed middle-order attacking batsman, not many were sure about the decision. The right-hand batsman though did his homework right. He not only provided quick starts but anchored the Mumbai innings as well. He scored over 500 runs in the competition and was rewarded with a spot in the India ‘A’ team for the Quadrangular series involving India B, South Africa ‘A’ and Australia ‘A’.
In an interview with Mumbai Indians.com, Surya Kumar spoke on his call-up and his plans going forward. “I am very happy to get an India A call-up. It is almost one step closer to the national side but at the same time I would like to live in the present,” Suryakumar, who whacked 61 fours in the 11th edition for MI, said.
Photo by: Faheem Hussain / IPL/ SPORTZPICS
“I’ll just try and take one step at a time, one game at a time and the process which I am following now will be very important for me to going into the Quadrangular series,” he added.
Surya Kumar happy with the preparation
On being asked about his current preparations for the Quadrangular tournament, the batsman said that he is very happy. “I try and do lot of smart practice, I don’t like a lot of quantity, I totally focus on quality work. If I am doing nets for around an hour, I’ll try and create a few match situations.” he said.
“I try to put myself under pressure, create such situations and practice that way, so that when I face such situations in the game, it gets easier for me. I don’t like to bat for a long time like 2 hours, 4 hours, 6 hours. Instead, I like to bat 1-1.5 hours, take positives from that and just move out.” he added.
I took it as a challenge to open in IPL: Surya Kumar Yadav
With a prolific record as an opener in the IPL, the batter is willing to take up the role for Mumbai in limited overs cricket. “I’ll be trying to take that as a challenge and a responsibility for my state team, try to open in One Dayers and T20s because I actually took it as a challenge and an opportunity during the [VIVO] IPL.” he said