Surya special keeps India alive in T20I series vs West Indies | Cricket News

Amidst the gloom that descended on Providence, with the clouds getting ominously dark and the groundsmen tugging to the ends of the covers, Suryakumar Yadav shone brightly. If two supreme fielding efforts had nipped his two previous knocks from blossoming, here he was both impregnable and imperious, nullifying the slowness of the wicket with dexterous use of malleable wrs, supreme spatial awareness and a gymnast’s control of his body.
His supreme knock — 83 off 44 balls — kept India alive in this see-sawing series against a persevering West Indies, whom they defeated seven wickets, chasing 160. But more importantly, Yadav gave an account of his prowess on sluggish decks. It has larger significance, for many Indian batsmen are more comfortable batting on quicker surfaces than they are on the archetypal slow-turners of the subcontinent. Shubman Gill in this series is a classic case study.
But Yadav is someone who can score briskly on a slow surface. In the World Cup in two months’ time, India could encounter such pitches, especially towards the end of the long campaign where the surfaces could be worn out. Though Yadav has messed up his breaks in 50-over format — 511 runs at an average of 24 — he would be more than an afterthought as the selectors scramble their brains to pick the World Cup squad. The door is still ajar, though he needs to tw it open replicating his T20I form to the longer format.

Form is temporary. Surya is permanent!
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— FanCode (@FanCode) August 8, 2023
It was a reassertion that his slump of form in ODIs, and his ineptness to make use of his Test break, had not affected his game in T20Is, where he still remains a destructive batsmen, even on a sluggish pitch, where most other batsmen struggled for timing. Yadav made all such variables look inconsequential, even silly, as is often the case when he strums along. In this format, he makes even the risky shots look risk-less. Rather, what looks risky for most batsmen is staple for Yadav; that, in a nutshell, is the soul of his game.
The falling scoop and sweep perfectly illustrate this characteric. To scoop a quick on a quick track is difficult, but there is always the pace to work with. Fast hands, nimble feet and flexibility of body could bail one out of trouble. Instincts and impulses take over. But to scoop a medium pacer on a surface where the ball stops is a difficult art. One has little pace to utilise; has to wait eternally, slow down the instincts and impulses.
In this case, Romario Shepherd had slowed down even more, the slow cutter eternally suspended in the air. But Yadav too suspended his stroke. He was crouching and waiting, and sinking his body further to the side as he waited for the perfect moment to make contact with the ball. Watch his hands flapping the ball over the short fine-leg fielder. It’s that flap, the whirr of the wrs that provides the impetus for the stroke to soar over the ropes. Yadav lost his balance and slumped to the turf. But when he meets the balls, he is statue-still, like a sculpture, every cell synchronised to execute the order of his mind.
India’s Tilak Varma, left, and India’s Suryakumar Yadav knock gloves during the third T20 cricket match against West Indies at Providence Stadium in Georgetown, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023. (AP)
A method all his own
There were other examples when those wrs guided and steered good-length balls to different parts of the ground. Shepherd’s off-cutter this time was wide and on a good length, but Yadav just corked his wrs and slapped it through the gap between point and third man. His body was far away from the ball, he seemed off-balance, almost flailing, but the connection was sublime.
Like all his knocks of substance, he unfurled the sweep on numerous instances. All kinds of sweep he executed, fine behind square, finer behind fine-leg, those in front of square, on the ground, in the air, flatly-struck, those that looped over the ropes. There are few better sweepers in world cricket these days — among Indian batsmen it’s a fading art — than Yadav. It’s perhaps the reason he was handed the Test debut against Australia in a series played on raging turners. It’s the reason selectors continue to trust him in the 50-over format.

It’s a mystery that he has not flourished in either, especially in ODIs. He has both the game and technique; perhaps it is just a matter of one big knock that turns the corner. It’s important to pers with him before he is thrust into the wilderness, because he can play a variety of roles, from stabiliser and anchor to enforcer and finisher. He can guide a chase and shepherd those around him. Like he did to Tilak Varma, with whom he strung 87 runs for the third wicket that effectively sealed the match. Varma got going with a brace of sweetly-hit fours, but played largely second fiddle, but that is what most batting partners of Yadav often end up doing. He could just explode from nowhere. Not many could hit the first two balls he faced for a six and a four, as he did in Guyana. And did so in the most nonchalant manner, a flick off his toes and a swivel of his hips. It would be unfathomable if a batsman of such rare gifts ends up watching the World Cup from his drawing room or the VIP box. The rain never landed in full fury, but the crowd had watched the shower of boundaries that burst from Yadav’s bat.