New Delhi: Coach Vinayak Mane says you cannot predict whether Suryakumar Yadav will succeed in Test cricket or not but said the batsman will give it his all if given a chance. Suryakumar has achieved a lot of success in a short span of time in Indian cricket. Some of his shots are such that cannot even be imagined. Suryakumar has become the world’s number one T20 International batsman at the age of 32 and he has covered this journey very fast.
Apart from Suryakumar’s family, two people who have seen the transformation closely are former Mumbai opener Mane and his long-time state teammate and childhood friend Sufiyan Shaikh. Mane first saw Suryakumar at the age of 18 when he got a scholarship from Bharat Petroleum in 2009 for being the most promising Under-19 cricketer from Mumbai. Mane, however, got to know Suryakumar closely when the cricketer joined the Parsi Gymkhana where its head Khodadad S Yazdegadi also helped him a lot.
Mane, who played 54 first-class matches, said, “When Surya came to Parsi Gymkhana, I was playing a little cricket and had just started coaching. He was having a rough time in Mumbai cricket and was trying to make a mark. He always had a shot variation and anyone who saw him knew he would play for India. So how did Suryakumar prepare for the conditions in Australia? Mane said, “The credit should go to Khodadad who is very fond of Suriya. We specially prepared a hard wicket with a lot of grass for him at the Parsi Gymkhana ground.”
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He said, “One of my disciples, who is a Mumbai U-23 player, Om Keshakamat, worked on giving throw-downs with the robo-arm with his left hand. I also had all kinds of bowlers who were giving him good practice.” Suryakumar trains with a set target after batting for 20 minutes. Mane said, “Where the target is like 28 runs in two overs, chasing the target will be different and if you bat first then say 30 runs in four to six overs of the powerplay. He often used to say set the field for me and give me the target, if I get out then I will go out, he always used to play from the point of view of the match.
Cricket lovers are fascinated by his back-of-the-wicket strokes and pick-up shots at deep fine leg but Mane has always seen him play these shots. Sheikh, who played in the Ranji Trophy for Mumbai and the Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand in 2010, also highlighted a technical aspect. Sheikh said, “People like the ball to be away from the body so that they can open their hands. Surya is the opposite. He plays shots even when he gets the least amount of space. He plays incredible shots behind the stumps and is determined to force bowlers to bowl at his body.
“The worst-case scenario is that the ball will hit him and that injury will remind him that he needs to be quicker,” he said. He told one more thing about how Suryakumar’s mind works. Sheikh said, “Obviously on hard pitches with a lot of bounce, he used to wear thigh pads but on his T20 International debut against England in Ahmedabad, he did not wear thigh pads. On Indian pitches, he does this many times to reduce weight and that helps him to get two and three runs faster. (agency)