The more pressure you put, the better you can play: Suryakumar
Rajkot. India’s flamboyant batsman Suryakumar Yadav says he likes to put himself under pressure while preparing for matches. The 32-year-old batsman scored an unbeaten 112 off 51 balls against Sri Lanka in the third and final T20 International on Saturday to lay the foundation for India’s 91-run victory as the hosts sealed the series 2-1. Suryakumar said after playing an aggressive innings, “When you are preparing for the match, it is very important to put pressure on yourself. The more pressure you apply, the better you can play. It takes a lot of hard work. Some level practice sessions are also included.
Suryakumar hit seven fours and nine sixes in his innings, helping India post a mammoth score of 228 for five. The star batsman played shots all over the ground and credited head coach Rahul Dravid for playing his natural game. He said, “The back boundary was 59-60 meters, so I tried to play shots there. There are some shots which are pre-decided but you have to be ready for other shots as well. I take advantage of the situation. Dravid gave me the freedom to enjoy and asked me to express myself.
It was the middle-order batsman’s third century in the international format in just seven months, making him the first player in the history of the game to score three T20I hundreds while not opening the batting. In terms of facing balls, Suryakumar also became the fastest batsman to reach the 1500-run mark in T20 Internationals.
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The Mumbai-born batsman has scored 1578 runs in 45 T20 Internationals at an average of 46.41 and a strike rate of 180.34, including three centuries and 13 half-centuries. Regarding his innings, Suryakumar said, “I am really happy with the way the innings went. Some of my shots were pre-decided but these are shots that I have been playing for the last one year and I am not doing anything different. So nothing new. It’s a fresh start in 2023 and I hope to continue doing well.
