Was lost and disappointed after being excluded from India squad for Australia tour in 2020, reveals Suryakumar Yadav
Suryakumar Yadav has so far scored 244 runs from 11 T20Is for India
|Suryakumar Yadav has revealed that he was lost and disappointed after being axed from the India squad for the Australia tour in 2020. Suryakumar further added that he expected India call-up much earlier as he performed well in domestic cricket, and for his IPL franchise in the 2019 and 2020 seasons.
India's young batting sensation, Suryakumar Yadav had to wait a while before earning his maiden call-up to the international level. After making his debut for Team India during the five-match T20I series against England in March 2021, the right-hand batsman has been one of the consistent players on the national side over the last few months.
The 31-year-old has performed well for India in his recent outings and has scored 244 runs in 11 T20I matches with an average of 34.8. Suryakumar made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka in July 2021, and he scored 124 runs from three ODIs with an average of 62. The right-hand batsman unleashed his batting skills, and amassed 424 and 480 runs respectively in IPL 2019 and 2020 seasons. Suryakumar played a pivotal role in guiding Mumbai Indians to IPL titles in 2019 and 2020 with his exuberant batting performance.Â
However, when India toured Australia for three ODIs, as many T20Is, and four Test matches, Suryakumar Yadav was overlooked by the selectors, and was excluded from the squad. Meanwhile, in a recent interview with cricket presenter Vikram Sathaye, Yadav revealed that he was disappointed after being neglected at the time of selection despite scoring a lot of runs in domestic cricket and IPL.
"Almost half the IPL was over before that match (against RCB) happened. I still remember, the Indian team (for the tour of Australia) was going to be announced. I had a good IPL 2019 and 2020 season, and I scored runs in domestic cricket as well. I expected that I would get a call. It was not an arrogant thought like âyes, I am going to get a callâ. But, back of the mind, there was this hope that the long wait would end," Suryakumar said in a recent interview withÂ
"When I saw the squad, and my name was not in it, I was a little disappointed. From my side, I was trying to do everything. I took my wife to the beach for walks, and missed a few practice sessions, as I was thinking about that (not being selected) only," he added.
Soon after being excluded from the India squad for the Australia tour in 2020, Yadav had played a superb knock of 79 runs from 43 balls and led his IPL franchise, Mumbai Indians to a five-wicket victory against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 13th edition of the cash-rich league. Reflecting on the innings, Yadav said that the team head coach, Mahela Jayawardene and Zaheer Khan told him that this was the perfect opportunity to prove himself.Â
âOne day, Mahela and Zak came up to me, and said that this was the perfect opportunity to prove myself as it was MI vs RCB. I said, ok, but back of the mind, I was lost and disappointed. I didnât know what was happening even as the trainers and captain were speaking to me,â he added.
