Suryakumar Yadav continues to conjure innings of absolute magic, putting together a dazzling display amid India’s batting ruins against South Africa. Aadya Sharma writes about a batter who is an absolute joy to behold.

Close to a decade ago, Suryakumar, then a bustling youngster from Mumbai, was named captain of India’s Under-23 side. That squad also featured two fine talents – KL Rahul and Jasprit Bumrah – both younger than him. The former made it to the India team the following season, while Bumrah adorned the blue kit in three years’ time.

For Surya, we had to wait.

When Surya did make his long-due international debut in 2021, at 30, Rahul and Bumrah, India’s big, established T20 stars, were seen to be vital to India’s quest for a T20 World Cup win. Eighteen months on, both Rahul and Bumrah have led India in one format or the other, but it is Surya who is India’s most valuable asset, no questions asked.

It has been a journey worthy of a nice little biography, the one where the story is good enough to sell.

The appreciation for Surya goes beyond just his role in this team or the jaw-dropping numbers he has strung together over the last year and a half. In pure and simple terms, it is the seductive joy of watching Surya bat that is slowly becoming a highly addictive experience.

It starts with the image of him with the bat in hand. The jaw keeps clicking. The gum-chewing swagger may reminds one of Viv Richards, though it will take a really brave soul to say that in public. There is a little black armband on one side, fashionably better than an arm guard. Full sleeves are not usually entertained, for they hide the nice ink mandalas on his forearms. In the nippy October weather in Australia, the sleeveless blue gilet adds to the snazzy look.

Then, the batting. Nervelessly nonchalant. He would never think twice before bringing out the unnamed lap-scoop-whip thing that he does off his thigh pad, deep fine-leg or no deep fine-leg. On Sunday, Anrich Nortje hurled one at 143 kph, into the off stump; Surya casually side-stepped and rolled his wrists, flinging the ball into the stands. He has done that against Tymal Mills and against Olly Stone, against Mark Adair and against Alzarri Joseph. All in the last year, all in this blue kit. It has become a habit now, for him and for us.

In their third game of the Super 12s, India was floundering, their top order evaporating like camphor. None of that prevented Surya from being himself. It did not stop him from running down the pitch to take on Keshav Maharaj. A couple of steps out, lofted past the sightscreen. Clean, sweet, not a doubt in his head.

It did not matter that half his teammates were back in the shade. The thinking is simple and contemporary: in T20 cricket, in the quest to save wickets, it is unwise to let the side run out of overs. Thus, he can, and will, find a way to give you hope. He will probably give you a wink too.

Against Lungi Ngidi – four wickets richer at that point – Surya played another Surya shot, somehow pirouetting in his crease and clanking a rapid short ball from neck height into the second tier. Ninety-two metres, just like that. There is no limit to his impudence.

He ended up scoring half of India’s runs, while facing a third of the deliveries. Without him, India would not have come close to a decent total. It was his ninth fifty-plus score this year, and he is, in all likelihood, set to cross 1,000 calendar runs during this tournament. At this point, only six Indian male cricketers have scored more runs than him. No male cricketer, past or present with at least 500 runs, has batted faster than him.

The numbers do establish Surya’s greatness; but even if you cast them aside, overlook every context, comparison and trivia, you still have a breathtakingly beautiful specimen of a cricketer, thriving in his brand of batting. There are no half-measures, not even a semblance of restraint. It is all ebullience, unchained by the shackles of opinion, the occasion, the opposition, or the equation. Sometimes, it almost feels too good to be true.

On days like these, when all the triple-header action is done, when the daily quota of last-over thrillers is behind you, all the net run rates and permutations calculations have been factored in – India fans, take a moment to recline on your sofas, grab a drink, and soak in the thought of Surya’s batting beauty.

World Cups will come and go, last-over thrillers will keep stirring you, the bickering and gloating over India’s silverware count or the lack thereof will continue. Do not let the bigger picture steal the little joys from you. The joys of watching a free-spirited enigma like Surya. We had to wait a long time for this one. Long may this story continue.

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