In this blog, I would like to reminiscence about two contrasting cricketers. One whose stocks have risen drastically following his exploits in IPL whereas the other whose stocks have declined rather sadly due to injuries. They both are good and deserve to be part of the various Indian teams. Both are above 30 with not a lot of time left in their hands to make up for lost time. The emergence of SKY and the case of Bhuvneshwar.
Surya Yadav is a late bloomer. Up until a few years ago, no one knew who Surya was. He is playing for Mumbai and one hasn’t heard anything extraordinary from him. We all heard about the likes of Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer, Sarfaraz Khan but Surya was never in the radar. He hasn’t hard a stellar first class career either averaging in the 40s. In Ranji Trophy, if you are averaging below 50, it is as good as you aren’t that good enough to represent the country. Things began to change for Surya and change for the better.
It was not until his second coming for Mumbai Indians, that his fortune began to shift. Ever since, he has aggregated atleast 300 runs in every IPL season. Around the sametime, his number for Mumbai in T20 cricket also began to shine through. Another impressive aspect of his T20 batting is his strike rate. Upwards of 150 in most of the innings he has played. This despite the fact that he was not considered a certainty in the Indian squad and has batted as an opener till number 5 in the order.
Most versatile Indian batsman in T20
He has now emerged as the most important Indian batsman in the shortest format. The consistency that he has shown is incredible. The array of strokes if breathtaking. He effortlessly shifts gears, seemingly looking to defend the ball but actually eyeing the fine-leg or cow-corner. The knock at Nottingham was really fantastic. Chasing over 200 with the team at 13/2, he scored a scintillating hundred when the other batsmen could not manage more than 28. The calmness that Surya showcases at the crease must be seen to be believed. He always thinks that he can win a game of his own. That is calmness and confidence bundled together.
The number 2 ranked batsman in T20
Cricket rankings are not fool-proof. Nonetheless, is such a short span, he is within striking distance of becoming the number one T20 batsman. He must be able to achieve that ranking within the next few months. An in-form Surya in the middle and a maverick at that, the Indian team will be much tougher team at the T20 World Cup.
Surya in ODIs
Surya is here to stay as one of the top 4 Indian batsman in T20. However, it is his ODI spot that will be under scrutiny. Does he have the game to succeed in ODI? He sure does. Does he have the ability to play a long innings in ODI? He sure does. Why hasn’t he been that successful so far? That is a difficult question to answer. Though it has only been 13 games, the low scores in of them will what worry the Indian selectors. If only he could transfer his T20 game to ODI, he will solve one long standing Indian problem of the ideal number 4.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar
The short career of Kumar is both tragic and sweet. Kumar replaced his mentor Praveen Kumar in the Indian team and it sort of became like-for-like replacement. He started his career as an out and out swing bowler. Brilliant with the new ball but was perceived to lack effectiveness as soon as the ball gets old. On that ill-fated tour of England in 2014, where the Indian team were again humiliated 1-3, Kumar was a revelation.
19 wickets including a couple of 5-fers. It wasn’t spectacular but it was good return. The English batsmen were contend to see off Kumar and pick runs of the other bowlers. He could swing the ball both ways which kept the English batsmen in check. It was swing bowling of the highest class.
The perception did not help
It did not help Kumar during the Kohli & Shastri era that he was perceived as someone who could pick up wickets when the conditions suited him. It was an unfair assessment. In a stop-start career, he has taken his wickets at about 26 which for an Indian seamer is incredible.
Kumar’s other problem was his fitness. He missed a lot of games because of that. On the 2018 tour of England, it wasn’t the absence of Bumrah that was keenly felt but it was the absence of Kumar for the entire tour, that hampered India. The series was much closer than the 1-4 scoreline suggests because the Tests were played on seaming pitches with help from overcast conditions throughout. Maybe, just maybe, Kumar would have helped India win the series. It is hard to believe that it was barely 4 years ago, he made South Africans dance to his tune in the Cape Town game with an opening burst of 3 wickets. The skill that Kumar exhibited on that day, will make any top bowler appreciate.
Kumar in the short formats
Around the middle of 2015, he added a bit of pace to his bowling thereby bolstering his arsenal. Pace with swing is a difficult proposition for any batsman to negotiate. He became an excellent white-ball bowler. Now, it does not matter what the pitch conditions are, Kumar is a certainty in ODIs and T20s. His stock has certainly risen but unfortunately, Kumar the Test bowler, seems to be lost forever.
The emergence of a young crop of bowlers like Prasidh Krishna, Saini, Arshdeep, Avesh Khan, Umran Malik and a few others alongwith Bumrah and Shami means that Kumar may have already played his last test. It is really unfortunate that a bowler who could have won few more games, will be lost to the game of Test cricket forever.