CHENNAI: On Monday, as Mumbai chased down Goa’s tiny total of 95 in just 5.4 overs during a Vijay Hazare Trophy Group C match at Pachaiyappa’s College, all focus was on Rohit Sharma. There were queues for selfies and autographs. But their hero had a day to forget, scoring four off three balls.
Somewhere in between, was a less familiar face in a new avatar. With blonde hair and a left-arm full of fancy tattoos, the Kolkata Knight Riders player with skipper Aditya Tare had a competition among themselves as they scored 40 and 38, off 11 balls each, to help Mumbai scream past Goa.
The former, who has earned a brash tag over the years, was recently on the wrong side of things when he retweeted a post by cricket consultant Makarand Waingankar, who slammed his exclusion from the Mumbai team for the Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy. That’s Suryakumar Yadav, brilliant today and enigmatic tomorrow.
After an unconditional apology, he was called back for the Hazare one-dayers in Chennai. Not available for comment on the issue when it happened, Yadav said it was accidental.
“I wasn’t even active on Twitter when it happened. Some of my friends usually check my social media activities. They thought it would be good for me. I didn’t know about it until the association informed me. I apologised straight away. It was an honest mistake,” Yadav told Express.
The 26-year-old, who was stripped of captaincy during the 2014-15 season after a tiff with a teammate, is keen to concentrate on IPL which starts in a few weeks.
“Nothing has changed after the incident. There may be a difference of opinion off the field, but on the field, we die for the team. Ups and downs are a part of cricket. I just try and focus on positives,” he added.
Yadav made use of the time he was out of the team by keeping himself busy at the gym and focusing on fitness. The middle-order batsman expressed desire to open the innings. “It was a good break. I used it for training.
I also played four 50-over games in Mumbai in the Talim Shield. I got runs there. It was a confidence-booster. There are areas I was lacking in. All these years, I played as a finisher. I would like to play higher up the order.”
vimalsankar@newindianexpress.com