Shane Watson applauds ‘rare talent’ Suryakumar Yadav for his ability to access situations

Racing
past
1000
runs
in
T20Is
in
2022,
and
joining
Pakistan’s
Mohammad
Rizwan
as
the
only
player
to
cross
four
figures
in
a
calendar
year,
it’s
hard
not
to
play
on
his
nickname
and
claim
that
the
sky
is
the
limit.

The
No.1
ranked
batter
on
the
ICC
T20I
rankings,
the
right-hander
has
struck
his
runs
at
a
strike
rate
of
186.54
since
January
1.
Perhaps
the
term
“ground-breaking”
is
just
as
appropriate.

Watching
on
in
awe
like
everyone
else,
Shane
Watson
heaped
praise
on
the
man
trusted
at
No.4
in
India’s
batting
order,
struggling
to
come
up
with
anyone
who
could
emulate
his
consistent
success.

“It
really
is
a
treat
to
be
able
to
watch
SKY
bat
over
the
last
two
years
watching
him
in
the
IPL
and
performing
as
well
as
he
has.

“But
then
to
be
able
to
turn
it
on
like
he
has
in
international
cricket
as
well
is
something
to
behold.
What
he’s
able
to
do
in
these
foreign
conditions
in
Australia
alone
is
something
that
not
many
people
have
ever
been
able
to
do
in
T20
cricket.

Yadav
himself
revealed
on
a
recent
episode
of
The
ICC
Review
that
he
tries
not
to
focus
on
the
bowler’s
reputation,
but
instead
to
play
each
ball
on
its
individual
merit.

The
33-year-old
may
have
downplayed
his
talents,
with
Watson
again
questioning
just
how
Yadav
configures
himself
to
play
around
the
ground
in
a
360-degree
fashion.

“It’s
a
really
rare
talent
where
his
ability
to
really
read
a
bowler,
where
he’s
going
to
bowl
and
where
the
fielders
are,
and
his
control
over
where
the
ball
goes,
it’s
a
very
rare
talent.
We
haven’t
really
seen
it
much
before.”

And
then,
there
is
the
level
of
consistency.
Yadav
has
made
three
fifties
at
the
tournament,
with
15
his
lowest
score
in
a
successful
campaign
to
date.

“To
be
able
to
do
it
so
consistently,
to
be
able
to
do
it
in
one
or
two
games,
that
can
happen.
But
to
be
able
to
do
it
so
consistently
in
the
big
games?
He
is
a
special
talent
and
it
doesn’t
look
like
anything’s
going
to
change,”
Watson
continued.

“It
looks
like
he’s
going
to
be
out
to
continue
to
do
this
for
a
long
time.
It
just
looks
low-risk,
even
though
what
he
does
is
high-risk.”

Former
India
cricketer
Gautam
Gambhir
also
hailed
the
right-handed
batter
for
the
kind
of
form
he’s
in
at
the
moment.

“We
have
spoken
a
lot
about
him.
Players
like
Virat
Kohli,
Rohit
Sharma
and
KL
Rahul
are
very
orthodox.
Suryakumar
is
different.
India
haven’t
had
these
kinds
of
players,
especially
batting
at
No.4,”
Gambhir
was
quoted
as
saying
to
Star
Sports.

“He
has
scored
above
200
runs
with
three
half-centuries.
For
me,
he
is
the
Player
of
the
Tournament
already
for
the
kind
of
impact
he
has
had
even
if
India
do
not
go
on
to
win
the
World
Cup,”
he
added.

India
meet
England
at
Adelaide
in
the
second
semi-final,
with
a
spot
at
the
MCG
potentially
in
front
of
100,000
fans
up
for
grabs.