Suryakumar is a joy to watch, says coach Dravid

MELBOURNE: Watching Suryakumar Yadav bat is an inexhaustible joie de vivre and India head coach Rahul Dravid believes that he is staging a spectacle every time he is on the 22 yards.

“I think he has been absolutely phenomenal for us. He is just a joy to watch. It is a pleasure to watch him bat when he Is in that kind of form. Every time, it Is like he puts on a show, without a doubt,” said Dravid after India defeated Zimbabwe by 71 runs in the Super 12 Group 2 match here on Sunday.

SKY, as he is known in the cricketing ecosystem, blasted an unbeaten 61 off just 25 balls (6 fours, 4 sixes) against Zimbabwe. “Yeah, it is incredible. That is why he is the No. 1 T20 player in the world at the moment,” said Dravid about the magnificent knock.

With 225 runs, he is the second highest scorer in the India team in the ongoing global event. Only Virat Kohli (246 runs) has scored more than him, but, at 193.96, Suryakumar’s strike-rate has been absolutely jaw dropping.

“It is not easy to be consistent with the kind of strike-rate he is going at. So, it is just fantastic… the way he is playing. I think he has been very clear in his processes. He is very clear about his tactics,” added Dravid.

SKY is not a spring chicken, but is free-spirited: Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin is an articulate man and when he gives a lowdown on what Suryakumar’s knocks mean to the team, one has to sit and listen.

“The way Surya is batting, it is wonderful [to watch]. Free spirited, free will and he is not a spring chicken but he is at a pretty early stage in his international career where he is able to express himself. The shots that he is playing, he is correctly complementing a lot of other batters in the team,” Ashwin said during an interaction in the mixed zone.

Ashwin also drew a parallel with what the great Muttiah Muralitharan told him in his initial years at Chennai Super Kings. “As a bowler, it is wonderful, you are getting more runs to defend. Like anybody else, I used to play for CSK and Murali used to sit outside and he would still be urging the batters to score more runs.”