Discarded Indian batter Suryakumar Yadav strolled down memory lane to recall how patiently he waited for his maiden India call-up. He also revealed the tough conversations he faced at home with his wife and family members.
It’s important to note that Surya made his international debut in 2021 at the age of 30. In an interview, Surya went on to disclose that at 27 or 28 years, he felt that he had been playing the game for more than 10 years without receiving an India cap.
“At 27-28, around 2017-18, I felt I had been playing for more than ten years, so I didn’t know if I would play for India. But the conversations at home were about why you were playing the sport. My wife also started saying that people have already played for India who were playing with you in U-19 and all that. I thought I would give two to three more years and see. Most of the players who have played for India have played at 21, 22, and 24 at most. At 28, I thought, if not cricket now, then what? Dad had told me not to worry and that we would do some business or something,” Surya said. (via Mashable Middle East)
“In 2011, I came to Mumbai Indians. But in three years, I did not get a lot of matches. I started playing in 2014, actually, and that is when people realised that I had scope because I got the platform. I played the IPL for three to four years and then got married in 2016. But the brutal conversations started at home. They said you are playing IPL, but what next? Those who played with you are already representing India, but what are you doing extra to play for India? That is when it hit me really hard. That is when we started working harder, cut down on Friday nights and used that time,” he added.
After three consecutive good IPL seasons from IPL 2018 to IPL 2021, Suryakumar finally received his maiden India call-up in 2021 and made his debut across three formats of the game.
