Suryakumar Yadav, a young limited-overs specialist batsman from India, spoke candidly about the staring contests he would like to have with batting legend Virat Kohli and with Jasprit Bumrah and Kieron Pollard of the Caribbean. These inquiries were made to Yadav during his conversation with ESPNCricinfo. While Yadav may have only recently developed a close relationship with Virat, the Indian Premier League’s five-time champion Mumbai Indians, the trio includes Bumrah, Pollard, and other key players.
They were a member of the MI team that had won the 2019 and 2020 championships back-to-back. The middle-order batter had no hesitation in declaring that Bumrah, India’s top pacer, would win a staring contest between Pollard and Bumrah. But when it came to choosing between him and Kohli, Yadav paused before slyly replying, “Me,” followed by a hearty laugh. Suryakumar was accurate in his response because the two did engage in a staring match during an IPL 2020 league game between the Mumbai Indians and the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
When Virat approached the Mumbai cricketer in the second innings to play mind tricks on the batter who appeared to be in complete control of the bat, they engaged in that infamous stare-off. Despite this, Yadav maintained his composure and maintained eye contact with Virat Kohli the entire time. In addition to assisting the eventual winners in crossing the finish line, he received praise for maintaining composure under pressure.
Suryakumar Yadav, meanwhile, has had a fantastic year in the shortest format. He has two international T20I centuries to his credit. The first one was scored in July against England, and the most recent one was against New Zealand. The 32-year-old will end 2022 with 1164 T20I runs at a strike rate of 187.43 and an average of 46.56 in 31 games.
