Suryakumar Yadav plays his first ball like he already has a 100 to his name: Mohammad Kaif

Suryakumar Yadav yet again marveled with his sizzling strokeplay by scoring an elegant 50 in the first T20I against Sri Lanka. After being named the player of the series in the ODI series, the 30-year-old was once again seen at his fluent best by taking the attack to the opposition and scoring runs at a brisk clip. His 50 came off just 34 balls and helped India reach a competitive 164 in their allotted 20 overs.

Apart from being in a rich vein of form, Yadav has also garnered quite a few fans and admirers along the way. Mohammad Kaif, it seems has been the latest fan of the right-hand batter and was in awe of his confidence and strokeplay on a spin-friendly and sluggish wicket in Colombo.

Apart from playing crisp knocks so far in the ODIs and T20Is, Yadav has also displayed an aggressive side which was evident when he nonchalantly struck a six off the first ball to Jofra Archer on his T20I debut earlier this year. Kaif loved these qualities of the right-hand batter and took to Twitter to hail the Mumbai batter’s supreme run-scoring ability and form in his so far short international career.

“Surya Kumar Yadav these days plays his first ball like he already has a 100 to his name. No nerves, no doubts, in total control. Always great to see a domestic star do well internationally,” Kaif tweeted.

Shikhar Dhawan effusive in praise of Suryakumar Yadav

Apart from Kaif, stand-in-captain Shikhar Dhawan too was seen praising his star middle-order batter. The southpaw hailed him as a ‘great player’ and said he is very elegant and pleasing to watch, albeit maintaining constant pressure on the opposition by being aggressive.

“He (Surya) is a great player, and we enjoy watching him bat. He took the pressure off me, and the way he plays calculated shots was amazing to watch. I feel we played quite well after losing early wickets. It was about one or two boundaries; we knew we could get going,” Dhawan said at the post-match presentation.

Yadav’s dream season gets better and better as he has been included in the Indian team for a five-match Test series against England too.