With Gambhir at the other end, I didn’t feel the pressure: Suryakumar Yadav

With Manish Pandey being out of action, the Kolkata Knight Riders promoted Suryakumar Yadav to the all-important 3rd spot in the batting line up. In the post match conference, Surya talked about how having skipper Gautam Gambhir at the other end helped him settle at the crease and how the lower order has been winning matches for the KKR.

With the early dismissal of Robin Uthappa, Yadav had to come in to bat in the first over itself. He said that he knew he would be batting up the order and was ready for the opportunity.

“Captain had told me that I would be batting at No 3 as Manish Pandey was not fit,” said Suryakumar after the match. “It was a good opportunity for me. I had been preparing for this for the last two days, working specifically on how I would build my innings,” quoted a satisfied Yadav after the match.

The key highlight of the innings was the way he built it up. With no rash shots, he played sensibly to contribute with a 49-ball 60. Yadav was quick to admit that the pressure was indeed there but skipper Gambhir helped him ease his nerves. “There was pressure, at the same time there was responsibility also to take the innings forward from that stage. Since captain (Gautam) Gambhir was at the other end, I didn’t feel the pressure so much. Once the first boundary went, the pressure started to ease,” he said.

He was disappointed with the fact that he could not finish the game for his side. He spoke about how he learnt a few tricks from Yusuf Pathan about finishing the games. “I have seen him (Yusuf Pathan) play in IPL and seen him practice in the nets. After every nets session, we have a talk on how to build an innings and how to finish games. I was sad that I didn’t finish the game today, but am happy that my runs came for a winning cause,” quoted the right-handed batsman.

Yadav was all praise for the lower order of the Kolkata Knight Riders. He cited that the lower order has been winning games for his side. Interestingly, it was Piyush Chawla’s cameo in the final of the IPL 2014 that won the game for the Knights.

“Our lower order batsmen like Piyush Chawla too have won us a lot of matches,” he said. “Having allrounders is a blessing in disguise for a team. If there are players who can bat until No 10, like today Umesh Yadav scored a six to win us the match. I knew that if the ball was bowled in his range, it would go out of the park not for one or two runs. The match would get over in a ball! Have seen him do this in practice matches. That’s why I knew he could do it,” he added further.

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