'When I padded up and came to the dug-out, I was nervous' - Suryakumar Yadav recalls his international debut

Mumbai Indians swashbuckling batsman Suryakumar Yadav was the story of the five-match T20I series between India and England, hosted in March 2021 in Ahmedabad. The 30-year-old made his much-awaited debut for India in the second T20 International of the five-match series. However, Suryakumar didn’t get a chance to showcase his talent with the willow as another debutant Ishna Kishan shined by smashing a half-century.

Yadav was then dropped from the third T20I but he returned back in the next match to prove his mettle as a top-order batsman. Walking at number three, the 30-year-old made heads turn as he hammered a stunning 57 runs to ensure that India put up an above-par total on the scoreboard. 

The Mumbai Stalwart was also lauded for his stunning performance as he received the Man of the Match award. However, while walking for the first time in the middle, it is natural for a player to feel nervous and excited. The same was the case with Suryakumar Yadav. 

The right-hander opened up on the range of emotions he went through while making his debut. Surya revealed that he wasn’t much happy as Rohit Sharma lost his wicket and was marching back to the pavilion. However, there was some nervousness too but he calmed himself down by reminding his mind that he just has to play his natural game.

“If you would have seen properly, I was very excited at that time. Also, I was not happy at that time since Rohit (Sharma) had got out, but when I was going to bat, I was running in, so that shows how excited I was,” Surya said in a video shared by Mumbai Indians on Twitter.

“When I padded up and came to the dug-out, I was nervous, and it should be that way, if you don’t get nervous, how would you perform. When I was going inside, everything started running in my mind, what I have done when I bat at three. I got my answer when I said to myself ‘don’t do anything different, do the same thing, be yourself, that’s it,” he added.

I knew what Archer had been doing in the IPL: Suryakumar Yadav

The 30-year-old got off to a memorable start as he smashed a scintillating maximum to Jofra Archer. When asked about the same, Yadav revealed that he was aware of the game plan of Archer since he played against him during the Indian Premier League.

“People speak about the six, what were you feeling on the first ball after making India debut. It was necessary to be a bit calm and I knew what Archer had been doing in the IPL, how he comes hard at the batters. So, at the back of the mind there was a thought that he (Archer) would bowl that particular ball and good that he bowled the same delivery,” the batter concluded.