Former Indian cricketer Akash Chopra has praised Suryakumar Yadav for his exceptional strokeplay in the first T20I against Australia, describing how the Indian captain played virtually with the bowlers. Chopra pointed out that Suryakumar’s unorthodox sequence of shots often forces bowlers to change their plans, only to fall into his trap.
The first T20I between India and Australia in Canberra ended without a result due to rain on Wednesday, October 29. Before play was halted, India had reached 97/1 in 9.4 overs with Suryakumar unbeaten on 39 off 24 deliveries. Chopra analyzed how Suryakumar collected most of his runs between midwicket and fine leg, an area where he consistently dominates.
“If the runs come in that area, the story becomes simple. To be honest, the kind of pitch this was or the Australian pitches will be, this shot becomes more productive. He has to hit one shot, and then the bowler goes off plan, where to bowl next, that he has to do something else, and then you fall into a trap where Suryakumar Yadav hits you a lot,” Chopra told Star Sports.
Chopra praised the top-order batsman for his remarkable consistency in executing unorthodox strokes, highlighting the uniqueness of Suryakumar’s skills. The Indian skipper showed his flair during the short innings, hitting three fours and two sixes in his unbeaten knock. He made his intention known early, launching Josh Hazlewood for a six on just the fourth ball he faced. He later ended the innings in style by sending Nathan Ellis over the boundary for another maximum on what would end up being the penultimate ball of the match.
“The expectation is that this is just the beginning. The power he generates while bringing the bat up from the bottom is a rare skill. He has incredible quality. You are commendable if you can score runs consistently despite playing risky shots, and that is the reason why he has reigned in the T20 format for a long time,” Chopra said.
Chopra was also asked about the significance of Suryakumar’s innings given his relatively disappointing performance in T20Is earlier this year. The former India opener noted that the knock would serve as a timely boost for Suryakumar. He added that such an innings would stand Suryakumar in good stead in the future.
“He had to score runs. You are the captain of a winning team and you also have a lot of experience and pedigree, so there were no question marks as such, but there are some murmurs. When you go to the ground with a bat in hand, you are a batsman first and a captain later,” Chopra said.
“He has the unique ability to force the bowlers to bowl where he wants. However, scoring runs was imperative because when a captain scores runs, his decision-making skills remain at the top. Then you don’t think about anything else and you can do things instinctively. It was important that the captain was seen in his Surya avatar,” he added.
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