Mumbai: The snub from India’s limited-overs tour of Australia in 2020-21 “hit me hard”, recalled Suryakumar Yadav, who said that episode also spurred him to produce one of his most memorable knocks in the Indian Premier League.Suryakumar produced one of his most memorable knocks in the IPL, scoring an unbeaten 79 off 43 balls against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in a tense chase in Abu Dhabi to help Mumbai Indians win by five wickets.While it was just another league game in IPL 2020, the contest saw the then RCB and India skipper Virat Kohli resorting to on-field intimidation when his side was losing the match.In tense moments of the game, while Kohli did not say much, he picked up the ball in between deliveries and walked up to the striker’s end where Suryakumar was batting.”It was an emotional knock because just a few days before, the team for the Australia tour was announced,” the Mumbai Indians batter recalled on the Suryakumar Yadav Experience show on JioHotstar.Suryakumar, now India’s T20I skipper, said he had a good run until those events and was expecting to be on the flight to Australia.”I had been building up for this over the past few years — my domestic season and IPL were going really well. I had prepared myself well for this season, even taking time during the Covid break to work on my body and mental health. I expected to be in the T20 squad,” he said.”Everyone around me, including teammates from other countries, thought I’d be flying to Australia. I was already on that flight, mentally. But when I wasn’t selected, it hit me hard. I couldn’t understand what went wrong.”Suryakumar said he took a break following the snub to refresh himself.”I started thinking in a reverse way, I thought what and where it went wrong. For the next 2-3 days, I didn’t speak to anyone,” he said.”I took a break and didn’t even practice. I knew my mind and heart were not in the right place, so I decided to relax instead. When I returned to the ground, people noticed I was off, and Mahela Jayawardene and Zaheer Khan could see it too.”Suryakumar revealed his teammate Kieron Pollard urged him to make a point, given RCB was being led by Kohli.”Luckily, we fielded first. Slowly I started getting involved in the game. When it was our turn to bat, we lost a couple of wickets,” he said.”Before I went in, Polly (Pollard) came and sat next to me and said, ‘I think this is a perfect stage. The captain is also in the opposition team. It’s the perfect time to step up, not (to) show him but tell him that you belong somewhere’,” he said.Suryakumar, who is ranked No 5 in the world, said post 2020 he went back to the drawing board to invent new ways of making runs.”The T20 format has changed a lot in the past few years — scoring rates, strike rates, everything. Earlier, I used to bat at a strike rate of 140-150, but post-2020, I realised that to be the best, I needed to evolve,” he said.”I went back to the drawing board, worked on match simulations, and started practicing shots that would help me stay ahead of bowlers and captains.”From 2021 to 2024, I focused on exploiting specific areas, finding scoring options where I could also minimise the risk. Everything I do in matches now, I’ve already practiced. I try to replicate those sessions exactly,” he added.
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