“I will get so much to learn from our captain Virat Kohli” – Suryakumar Yadav

Mumbai batsman Suryakumar Yadav is excited about being in the Indian dressing room and learning the nuances of the game from the greats. The 30-year-old received his maiden international call-up for the five-match T20I series against England starting March 12.

Suryakumar Yadav is one of three uncapped players to be a part of the 19-member squad. Wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan and all-rounder Rahul Tewatia are the other two. Yadav revealed he has already started dreaming about being in the India squad.

“I have already started thinking about how I am going to spend time with all the greats over there. I will get to learn so much from our captain Virat Kohli and then there is Rohit Sharma, everyone, A to Z all the players. I am really looking forward to spending quality time, grasp as much as I can,” Suryakumar Yadav told Sports Today.

Suryakumar Yadav was one of the key figures of Mumbai Indians’ record-extending fifth IPL title campaign in 2020. An India call-up seemed to be on the cards, but both Yadav and the entire cricketing fraternity were left startled when the selectors ignored him for the three-match T20I series Down Under.

He stated there were a few instances during IPL 2020 which got him imagining replicating his MI heroics in an India shirt.

“There were a few instances during the IPL where I used to dream about winning games for India and I think the opportunity for me has come at the right time. It’s on me how I take it and how I make full use of it,” Suryakumar Yadav stated.

Suryakumar Yadav had his best IPL season – in terms of batting average – last year. The MI No. 3 smashed 480 runs at an average of 40 in 16 innings with four half centuries to boot.

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“I would love to go ahead and explore in this series” – Suryakumar Yadav

Suryakumar Yadav is presently with the Mumbai squad in Jaipur [Credits: MCA]

Suryakumar Yadav is currently representing Mumbai in the 2021 Vijay Hazare Trophy. Batting at No. 4, he scored a 33-ball 50 in their seven-wicket victory over Delhi on Sunday (February 21). He will play three more games before reporting to Ahmedabad on March 1.

While it is indeed a dream-come-true moment, Suryakumar Yadav is trying not to get overwhelmed by the situation. He hinted at having a few plans up his sleeve.

“Not thinking about too much, I would say, I would go one step at a time, take one game at a time. Obviously, I would love to go ahead and explore in this series,” Suryakumar Yadav added.

India’s squad for England T20Is: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Rahul Tewatia, Axar Patel, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan, Yuzvendra Chahal, Varun Chakravarthy, T Natarajan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur