Suryakumar Yadav reflects on T20I exploits in 2022: "I told myself, arre yeh knock maine aise kaise khel diya?"

Team India batter Suryakumar Yadav has admitted he is himself surprised by some of the dazzling knocks he has played over the last few months, including those in the T20 World Cup 2022. The 32-year-old revealed that he has been watching videos of his recent batting exploits and has been amazed by what he has managed to pull off.

The right-handed batter from Mumbai is the leading run-getter in T20Is in 2022. In 31 matches, he has smashed 1164 runs at an average of 46.56 and a sensational strike rate of 187.43. SKY's T20I stats in 2022 include two hundreds and nine fifties.

The in-form batter is now preparing for the Ranji Trophy 2022. He is in the Mumbai squad for the match against Hyderabad, which begins on Tuesday, December 20. In a chat with The Indian Express, he opened up on his amazing T20I success in 2022, particularly his 360-degree batting. Suryakumar commented:

“I was playing such shots at domestic and IPL level as well, but to do so successfully on the big stage has left even me amazed. The other day, I saw videos of my batting over the past three months. And I told myself 'arre yeh knock maine aise kaise khel diya? How did I do this?' I saw it on social media and it kept on repeating on my timeline. So I watched it all."

While India failed to win the T20 World Cup in Australia, Suryakumar had a sensational tournament. He finished as the third-leading run-getter with 239 runs in six matches at an average of 59.75 and a strike rate of 189.68.

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“Tu video game khel raha hai kya?” - Suryakumar Yadav reveals praise from Virat Kohli

In a short international career, Suryakumar has featured in a few blistering partnerships with Virat Kohli. The latter has expressed his admiration for SKY’s talent on a number of occasions in recent times.

Recalling the unique praise he received from Kohli during one of their stands, the right-handed batter said:

“Once I was batting with Virat (Kohli) bhai, and he came and told me “tu video game khel raha hai kya? Alag chal raha hai tera bhi (Are you playing video games? You are at a different level).” It felt nice to hear these things.”

The Mumbai Indians (MI) batter added that skipper Rohit Sharma, who has witnessed his rise from close quarters, gave him a free hand to go out and express himself. He elaborated:

“Rohit (Sharma) is the only one who has seen me for a very long time. But this season, he saw so many knocks that a time came when he didn’t tell me anything. In a few games, he said 'mujhe ab kuchh bolna nahi abhi tere baare mein (Now I don’t have anything to say about you)'."

Suryakumar has so far featured in 42 T20Is, in which he has smashed 1408 runs at an average of 44 and a strike rate of 180.97.