Suryakumar: Tune-up at Parsee Gymkhana, full throttle in Australia

Suryakumar Yadav has floored everyone with how he has turned up in Australia, so well equipped to conquer the conditions when it is his first tour to a country where batters find it tough to adapt even after multiple trips.Even during mid-season, the bounce on the Brisbane, Perth and Melbourne pitches is a challenge. This time the T20 World Cup is being played in spring when it is cold and the pitches have extra juice for the speedsters.Yadav though has batted at the MCG, Perth, Adelaide and Sydney as if it his backyard--scoring 15, 51*, 68, 30 and 61*.The reason is solid preparation. After sealing his spot in India’s playing XI, it’s been all travel for him. But the practice sessions he had at his club, Parsee Gymkhana, between his hectic schedule has kept him in good stead.Former Mumbai batter Vinayak Mane, coach at Parsee Gymkhana, has seen him grow as a batter from his early days. For Mane, the gamechanger for Yadav has been his developing shots down the wicket. “I’ve played with him since the Bharat Petroleum team days when he was taken on scholarship first.“He was always a batter who knew how to score runs, especially in the limited-overs format. In the last five-six years he has developed a lot. He had the game of hitting square of the wicket and behind, (but) people tracked him down. Now, he has developed the game down the wicket as well. That is the major work he has done. He has got fitter also,” said Mane.“He was a decent first-class cricketer, then he realised he had to develop (to play at the highest level). He worked accordingly; it’s all credit to him.”For how he has adapted to Australian conditions, Yadav has Parsee Gymkhana to thank for the practice sessions arranged for him whenever he requested. “He has always felt good training here,” Mane said. “Good hard wickets were provided with grass on it for Surya. He has happy to work on it. We always look after his needs, getting a variety of bowlers, and he has a side-arm specialist always with him. He would bat for an hour-and-a-half, two hours.”Yadav’s training is very specific. “He interacts a lot with the bowlers; he will set a field with them for powerplay, post-powerplay, slog overs. It is like a match. We would sometimes make an imaginary 30-yard circle. He would try and target hitting down the ground. All that has benefitted, he has got a variety of shots.”Yadav’s smartness was seen against Zimbabwe. He played with the field, opening up vacant areas, forcing either the fine leg or mid-off to be brought in. If the mid-off is in, he will go over the top.“He attacks from square-leg to fine leg. Then he hits towards mid-off when fine leg goes back and mid-off comes in. He also plays the lap shot and taps it to the third man fence.”Mane said: “If you saw against South Africa, three top batters got late going for the horizontal bat shots. Surya used the pace of the ball to get runs, that’s his smartness.”