'I called my parents, wife, sister and all of us started crying on video call' - Suryakumar Yadav on his maiden call-up

India’s swashbuckling top-order batsman Suryakumar Yadav finally earned his maiden call for Team India as he has been named by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in the Indian squad for the five-match T20I series against England, starting from March 12 at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. In recent years, Yadav has made a strong case for himself with some stunning performances in the domestic circuit.

The batsman had delivered a fine performance in the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) while playing for franchise Mumbai Indians (MI) as he had amassed a whopping 480 runs in 16 games at a stunning average of 40 and strike rate of 145.01. Thus, a huge controversy was created when Surya was sidelined by the selectors for the India tour of Australia 2020-21.

However, the batsman is now finally getting the reward he deserves. Speaking about his reaction to earning his maiden call, the 30-year-old revealed that he couldn’t control his emotions and started crying after getting picked for India’s T20I team. His family also delivered somewhat similar reactions as they too couldn’t stop themselves from shedding tears of joy.

It has been a very long journey: Suryakumar Yadav

“I was very excited as I got to know about the selection. I was sitting in the room, trying to watch a movie, and got a notification on the phone that I was picked in the Indian team for England T20Is. I started crying after seeing my name in the team. I called my parents, my wife, and my sister. We had a video call and all of us started crying,” the official website of BCCI quoted Suryakumar as saying.

“Along with me, they have also been trying to live this dream for a long time. It has been a very long journey and they are the ones who have stood by me throughout. It was really great to see them happy and have those tears of happiness. Everyone wants to play for India. But finally, my time has come,” he added.

Further in the interaction, the top-order batsman revealed that he is looking forward to playing under Virat Kohli and sharing the dressing room with legends like Kohli and Rohit. Apart from Surya, Ishan Kishan and Rahul Tewatia also earned their maiden call for Team India.