'You are not far away from India cap' - Suryakumar Yadav recalls Rohit Sharma's encouraging words from IPL 2020

After consistent performances in domestic cricket and the Indian Premier League (IPL), Suryakumar Yadav finally made his T20I debut in March 2021 against England. A few months later, he made his debut in ODIs as well, and finished with 31* off 20 balls against Sri Lanka and helped India win the match. Yadav recently recalled the motivating speech of Rohit and his debut Ranji game.

Yadav remembered his 30th birthday celebration during the IPL 2020 in UAE. In the Mumbai Indians (MI) TV video, it was seen that after cutting the cake, Rohit told him to work hard and conveyed the message that he was not far away from the India cap. Yadav further went on to say that Rohit has always been behind him, and would want him to keep scoring runs in a consistent manner. He also urged Yadav to keep knocking on the door and try with his utmost potential to get a national call-up.

“Many many happy returns of the day, keep working hard, You are not far away from the India cap. He was always behind me and pushed me to score runs. If I was scoring, he would say score again in the next game and the one after that also. Keep knocking on that door, and if it doesn’t open, break it. So he was completely behind me,” Yadav said On Gaurav Kapur’s show Breakfast with Champions.

Rohit Sharma’s attitude has remained the same: Suryakumar Yadav

Yadav reckoned that Rohit was his batting partner when he arrived at the crease in his debut Ranji Trophy 2010/11 game for Mumbai. In his debut First-class innings against Delhi, he scored 73 off 89 balls. He said that the attitude of Rohit on the field and his ways to motivate the players have not changed. He concluded by saying that if he shuts off his eyes and thinks about Rohit, his memory lane shifts back to the 2010/11 Ranji Trophy season.

“When I made my domestic debut in Ranji Trophy 2010/11, he was batting with me. Since then, his attitude and how he motivates players has remained the same. If I shut my eyes, and think about him, I’m transported back to 2010/11,” Suryakumar added.