IND vs PAK | Hanuman Chalisa, Mental Reset Help Suryakumar Yadav Rediscover His Batting Mojo Again

India captain Suryakumar Yadav had faced a lot of criticism after he had gone through a lean patch before finally making a comeback during the bilateral series against New Zealand. SKY had scored just 100 runs in 11 innings and decided to take a big step that certainly worked in his favour. 

Suryakumar Yadav told his wife he needed a break from cricket. He would open his kitbag only in the new year, he said, according to a report in The Indian Express. 

The aggressive right-handed batter would ask his friends for honest feedback while he was going through a rough patch. The party songs in his car had gone and ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ became his most-played track. Surya had earlier talked about going back to the basics. “You go back to your old clips where you batted really well and delivered for India, and you try to carry the same thing forward.”

The break did work for him as he turned fortunes for himself in the series against New Zealand. He notched up three half-centuries and the Player of the Series award scoring 242 runs in the five-match series. The difference was more visible when the captain helped the team come out of a tricky situation with a brisk yet responsible 84* off 49 against USA. 

Surya’s knock helped India put 161/9 in 20 overs and the bowlers did the job later on to restrict the opposition to 132/8 as the home side clinched a win by 29 runs. 

“Only I can tell how much pressure I was feeling (smiles) but I had the belief. I knew if I bat till the end, I can make a difference. It was a little different wicket. But we knew when we woke up, there was not a lot of sun outside. Curator tried their best. There was not enough sunlight to have the pitch rolled and watered. We cannot brush everything under the carpet, we need to bat much better. After winning also, you get to learn a lot of things. Could have batted better and smarter,” he said after the match. 

India now play Namibia in their second match of the campaign in Delhi on Thursday and will then lock horns with arch-rivals Pakistan in Colombo on Sunday. 

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