Method in the madness! Suryakumar Yadav decodes his outrageous scoop shot against Zimbabwe

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Melbourne, Nov 7: India batter Suryakumar Yadav has been making a lot of noise with his imperious batting effort in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2022. The right-handed batter from Mumbai, who has been one of India's star performers in the showpiece event Down Under, gained the No. 1 spot in the ICC Men's T20I rankings.

The stylish right-handed batter - who is being hailed as a truly 360-degree player - has also scored the most number of runs overall in T20Is this year. Suryakumar's form is going to be crucial if the Men in Blue want to end the 15-year-old wait to lift their second T20 WC trophy.

One of the highlights of India's game against Zimbabwe was Suryakumar's unorthodox strokeplay where he dispatched the ball over the boundary with a scoop shot, gaining him plaudits from the entire cricket fraternity. Experts and former cricketers were in awe of Mumbaikar's outrageous strokeplay against Richard Ngarava in the final over of India's innings.

While many think it is just one of those freak shots which can't be repeated but for Suryakumar Yadav, there's a method to the madness. He has consciously worked on such shots for hours during his domestic cricket days and that hard work is earning him dividends.

Speaking exclusively on Star Sports show 'Follow the Blues', Suryakumar Yadav spoke about how he manages to gauge the match and how he predetermined the scoop shot for a six, "You got to understand what the bowler is going to bowl at that time, which is a little pre-determined at that moment. I have practiced that stroke a lot when I used to play rubber-ball cricket. So, you got to be thinking what the bowler is thinking at that time and if the field is in, I just back myself to go there. You got to know how long the boundary behind is. When I stand there, I feel it's just 60-65 meters and with the pace of the ball I just try and time it, take it on the sweet spot of the bat and if it hits, it just goes out there."

The 32-year-old also spoke about how he handles pressure situations in matches and how he tries to score runs all around the ground, he said "When I go into bat, I just try and look for a few boundaries or even if I don't get that, I just try and run as hard as possible between wickets. If you have to bat with Virat bhai then you have to run hard as well. But I try and do that, hit it in the gaps and run hard. But I know what strokes I need to play at that time. I try and play a lot of percentage cricket. My strokes are sweeps, over cover, and cuts, if I am succeeding in that, I just take the game ahead from there."

Catch all the action from the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup semi-final between India and England on November 10 from 1.30 PM onwards. LIVE & Exclusive on the Star Sports Network and Disney+ Hotstar.