CHENNAI: At this point, it has become a routine. He has been doing it so often that not one shot Suryakumar Yadav plays on the field comes as a surprise. And yet, every time he comes out to bat for India, he makes everyone go gaga about his strokeplay.
But if one has to be honest, the awe with which everyone watches him bat these days has more to do with the ridiculous consistency with which he pulls off the kind of stuff he does than the shots in themselves.
Saturday, in Rajkot, was the same as the 32-year-old pulled at all stops on his way to an unbeaten 51-ball 112, helping India get to 228/5. Such was his innings that he had all but sealed the result at the halfway mark. Unless something dramatic happens, the second innings were just a formality. In the end, it was one as the host's bowling attack bundled out the Lankans for 137 in 16.4 overs, securing the T20I series.
There were other positives for India such as Rahul Tripathi’s initial outburst, or the way Arshdeep Singh and Yuzvendra Chahal stepped up with the ball, but it is hard to look past what Suryakumar did in between. Safe to say that when he came in, Tripathi had already set the tone, with India getting 53/2 in six overs.
However, when he got going, Suryakumar made everyone forget about the poster-worthy lofts of Tripathi down the ground. It all started with a trademark inside-out loft on the offside of Chamika Karunaratne. The next ball was a shuffle across and ramp over square-leg ropes. Then there were flicks, the pull shots, the slicing over third-man and several down-on-the-knee scoops behind the wickets. With nine sixes and seven fours in the innings, Suryakumar showed why he is the best T20 batter in the world.
Captain Hardik Pandya summed it up after the match. “As a bowler, if I was bowling to him, I’ll actually get disheartened,” said the 29-year-old. While Surya is coming close to AB de Villiers with his 360-degree strokeplay, what made the De Villiers ABD was the consistency with which he was able to accomplish it. Now, Surya is closer than ever to getting there.