Suryakumar Yadav batting at 80-90 percent, he has even more shots: Sarfaraz Khan

The prolific Mumbai batter says senior teammate Suryakumar Yadav only got better waiting for India selection and backs him to bat even better in the T20 World Cup knockouts

Suryakumar Yadav knows only too well the frustration of an interminable wait for selection despite consistent performances. In the 2018 IPL with Mumbai Indians, he aggregated 512 runs; in 2019 it was 424 runs, and 480 runs in 2020. He played many dazzling knocks as MI won back-to-back titles in 2019 and 2020. After every impressive innings, social media would explode in support of Yadav’s selection. Yet, he got his break only last year aged 30, 11 years after making his first-class and List A debuts.

Suryakumar Yadav and Sarfaraz Khan

The lack of recognition can test the resolve of any deserving player. Now that he has finally been provided the platform, Yadav is showing how good he is, smashing 225 runs at a stunning strike rate of 193.96 in this T20 World Cup in Australia. And almost every run has come via mesmerising shot-making.

His junior Mumbai teammate and friend, 25-year-old Sarfaraz Khan, is enduring similar frustration. If Yadav is the hottest property in international cricket, Sarfaraz wears that tag in domestic cricket.

In 29 first-class matches, the batter from the suburb of Kurla has scored 2,928 runs at an average of 81.33 with 10 hundreds. In the 2021-22 Ranji Trophy, he aggregated 982 runs in six matches (avg 122.75) with four centuries—he hit 134 in the final loss to Madhya Pradesh. There were hundreds in the Irani Cup and the Duleep Trophy final too.

Sarfaraz is a big-match performer. On Saturday, he was the hero of Mumbai’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 triumph, scoring a vital unbeaten 36 to seal a tricky chase against Himachal. With 16 needed off eight balls, He hit seamer Abhinay for six and four to get the equation down to six off six balls.

He was widely expected to make it to the Test squad, but was ignored when the side was named last week for the Bangladesh tour.

“Like everyone who starts playing cricket, my dream is also to play for India. Whenever I am destined to get a chance, I would like to go and perform well like Surya. People say he got the chance a little late, but I feel, in a way, he got it at the right time (the long grind has helped).

"Today, he is the No 1 T20 batter. He knows where the bowler is going to bowl, what will be the bowler’s next move. Some players get it (opportunity and success) early, some late. Hard work is in my hands, rest is up to God," said Sarfaraz, who opted to play in a local match within hours of landing in Mumbai from Kolkata and train through Monday at the Islam Gymkhana instead of taking a break after the Mushtaq Ali Trophy win.

Sarfaraz made his Mumbai Ranji debut under Yadav’s captaincy in 2014 and is close to him. Sarfaraz has seen the heartbreaks he has suffered. “When Surya was selected for the first time for India, we were all together (with the Mumbai team at Vijay Hazare Trophy). I hugged him and cried like a child, because I knew what he had gone through to earn selection. He had been playing with us for so many years, it was like “kab lenge, ab lenga” (when will they pick, they will pick now). Those were tears of happiness that my brother was selected.”

With heaps of runs, Sarfaraz is on the verge of breaking open the door, but the wait has just got longer. At the same time, the grind makes one wiser and helps understand one’s game better.

“I feel a lot of players after going to the top level try and change their game, try to hit shots like the big names. Surya has stuck to his game and made runs in his strong zones. Some of the shots he has pulled off are sensational, no one can play those shots. He is able to play like this because he has struggled a lot, faced frustrations. But he has backed himself fully. Looking at him, I feel very motivated. Negative sochta hi nahi hai (he never thinks negatively).”

Against Zimbabwe on Sunday, Yadav scored a 25-ball 61*, putting on a breathtaking show with daring sweep and lap shots off pacers. Those who have followed Sarfaraz’s domestic career know he too is of a similar mould, adept at playing cheeky shots behind the wicket.

“If you have guts, you can play that shot because it is one of the most difficult shots. If you get a top edge, the ball can deflect on to your throat, crash through the visor on to your face. It is a shot for people with guts. Batters prefer to hit the yorker to mid-on, mid-wicket. To put your body behind the line and play needs courage. “Woh shot, jaan par leke khelna padta (you have to put life at stake and play).”

Sarfaraz warns the real Yadav is yet to be unleashed at the World Cup.

“I feel he is batting at 80-90% of his potential. He has even more shots which people haven’t seen. We will get to see him play them in the coming days.”