Suryakumar Yadav reveals how Mahela Jayawardene helped him improve his batting

Like a diligent student, Suryakumar Yadav did exactly what he was told and reaped the rewards for it.

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SK Yadav and M Jayawardene
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Suryakumar Yadav and M Jayawardene. (Photo Source: Getty Images)

Sometimes spending time with an experienced ‘head’ can go a long way in helping a youngster mold his game. The senior player carries with him a truckload of experience and when he shares his vast knowledge with a youngster, it can help the youngster reap rewards.

Mumbai Indians batting stalwart Suryakumar Yadav has now opened up on the role that the legendary Mahela Jayawardene played in improving his game. Yadav revealed that Jayawardene sat with him and guided him as to how he should approach his innings before, and after the Powerplay overs. Yadav added that the Sri Lankan stalwart wanted him to be smarter, and said that Jayawardene always wanted him to be a better cricketer.

Yadav further opened up on how Jayawardene told him to pick the gaps when he was batting during the powerplay and said that the Mumbai batting coach told him to focus on improving his running between the wickets so that his strike rate will also improve. Like a diligent student, Yadav did exactly what he was told and reaped the rewards for it.

“In 2019, he sat with me and explained it to me… what I should do in the powerplay and what I should do after the powerplay. Obviously, he wanted me to be a better cricketer at that moment and contribute more by being a little more smarter. So he just sat with me and he was like it’s upon you completely. He said only one thing, whenever you’re batting after the powerplay, just try and hit a lot of gaps, take twos, run hard between wickets and the strike rate also will be amazing. So I just did the same thing,” said Yadav in a chat with The Indian Express.

I knew I had to work a lot on my batting: Suryakumar Yadav

The Mumbai batsman further revealed that when he started opening, he played all around the ground and added that he knew that he had to definitely work on his batting as people are always ready to come up with ideas. He concluded by stating that he had to cover all the boxes and constantly improve.

“I don’t remember there was any talk regarding offside play. Because when I opened that year, I played all around the park. So there was no talk about the offside play. But yeah, I knew I had to work a lot on my batting again because people will come up with different plans. So I had to cover all the areas or tick all the boxes, which I couldn’t do in the first year with my team,” concluded Yadav.

The right-hander was in stunning form in the 2020 edition of the IPL that was held in the UAE and scored 480 runs. He continued his incredible run in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and plundered 332 runs from 5 innings at an average of 66.40. And, for his excellent run with the willow, Yadav was added to the Indian squad for the T20I series against England.

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