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'Remember Vengsarkar telling me about Suryakumar Yadav. I could see shades of Kapil Dev in him': Veteran coach recalls
Suryakumar's growth has been nothing less than inspiring, and watching him evolve into a beat gives immense pleasure to Sulakshan Kulkarni, who was the Mumbai coach during SKY's initial days with the team.
From a veteran Mumbai cricketer to becoming an IPL sensation to making waves in international cricketer… and now almost an all-format player for India, Suryakumar Yadav has come a long way. For someone who made his India debut in early 2021, Surya has reached the same cult status as Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. His numbers may not be anywhere close to the two batting giants of Indian cricket, but SKY has emerged as the most sought-after cricketer in terms of popularity. And all thanks to the year 2022, when he burned up the charts in T20Is scoring over 1100 runs and winning the ICC Men's T20I Cricketer of the Year. And if his current from is any indication, 2023 seems to be dishing out a similar pattern. SKY, who has already registered a century and a fifty in T20Is, is set to take the next big step in his career as he gets ready to make his Test debut.
Suryakumar earned his maiden Test call-up when he earned a place in India's Test squad for the much-anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia starting Thursday in Nagpur. And if his posts are any indication, SKY, in all likelihood, become India's 304th Test cricketer. Suryakumar's growth has been nothing less than inspiring, and watching him evolve into a beat gives immense pleasure to Sulakshan Kulkarni, who was the Mumbai coach during SKY's initial days with the team. The legendary Kulkarni, who is considered one of the finest domestic coaches in history of Indian cricket, recalled his first sighting of Surya and how he was taken aback seeing what the batter was capable of.
"I remember Dilip Vengsarkar first telling me about Suryakumar. He used to play for Dadar Union Sports Club initially. I had seen him bat in an U-22 match for Mumbai. So when I became the Mumbai coach in 2011, the first thing I told the team management was that Suryakumar will be my free bird. He can play the way he wants and no one will say anything to him," Kulkarni told The Playfield Magazine.
"I gave him the license to play his natural game because I could see shades of Kapil Dev in him. There was no better player to watch than Kapil when in full flow. Surya had an attacking game and I wanted him to continue playing that way. I always believe that every team must have a free bird who can change the complexion of the game. And for me in that team, Surya was that player."
Kulkarni, a former First-Class cricketer for Mumbai, echoed the sentiments of cricketers and fans alike. That Surya has peeled off three T20I hundreds – and all in a span of 6 months – and captured the imaginations of a million is a testament to how special he is. Surya's knack of playing all round the world, which fetched him a moniker of the modern-day 360-degree player fills Kulkarni's heart with pride.
"That's the beauty of Suryakumar’s batting. The centuries scored in T20s are mostly by openers. So it is very rare for a middle order batsman to achieve it in this format. The consistency with which he scoring those centuries is incredible. One knew sky would be the limit if he mastered those strokes because you cannot set any field for shots that he plays," the 56-year-old coach added.
