Suryakumar Yadav -- the World No 1 batter in T20 Internationals -- showcased his batting prowess with a scintillating half-century in the T20 World Cup match against Zimbabwe on Sunday.
Suryakumar peppered the Zimbabwe bowlers across the Melbourne Cricket Ground, once again leaving his mark on the T20 World Cup with a sensational 61 not out from 25 balls.
His amazing scoop shot -- when he shuffles across and hits the pace bowlers very fine on the leg side to the left to the wicket-keeper -- came in for special praise from Sunil Gavaskar, who was on commentary at that time.
A truly 360-degree player, Suryakumar gave a detailed explanation on what goes into his trademark scoop shot against the fast bowlers, which he admitted is 'pre-determined'.
'You got to understand what the bowler is going to bowl at that time, which is a little pre-determined at that moment. I have practiced that stroke a lot when I used to play rubber ball cricket. So, you got to be thinking what the bowler is thinking at that time and if the field is in, I just back myself to go there.
'You got to know how long the boundary behind is. When I stand there, I feel it's just 60-65 metres and with the pace of the ball I just try and time it, take it on the sweet spot of the bat and if it hits, it just goes out there,' he told Star Sports.
The way Suryakumar has handled pressure situations in matches has been lauded by everyone. He has been instrumental in giving India the impetus in the middle with his wide array of strokes.
'When I go into bat, I just I just try and look for a few boundaries or even if I don't get that, I just try and run as hard as possible between wickets. If you have to bat with Virat bhai (Kohli) then you have to run hard as well. But I try and do that, hit it in the gaps and run hard.
'But I know what strokes I need to play at that time. I try and play lot of percentage cricket. My strokes are sweeps, over cover, and cuts, if I am succeeding in that, I just take the game ahead from there.'
