Suryakumar Yadav who became the first Indian to cross the 1000-run mark in India vs Zimbabwe T20 World Cup match on Sunday, powered India to a defending total. India head coach Rahul Dravid believes that Surya is staging a spectacle every time he is on the field.
"I think he has been absolutely phenomenal for us. He is just a joy to watch. It's a pleasure to watch him bat when he's in that kind of form. Every time, it's like he puts on a show, without a doubt," said Dravid.
Surya smashed 61 off 25 balls against Zimbabwe.
"Yeah, it's incredible. That's why he is the No. 1 T20 player in the world at the moment," said the head coach about the magnificent knock.
With 225 runs, he is the second-highest scorer in the Indian team in this competition.
"It's not easy to be consistent with the kind of strike rate he's going at. So, it's just fantastic the way he's playing. I think he's been very clear in his processes. He's very clear about his tactics," said the coach, who in his playing days was known for his immaculate technique and copybook strokes.
But if you think there has been no method to his madness, then you are wrong. Suryakumar has reached the top after incredible hard work and sacrifices.
"I think he's (Surya) worked very hard. I think one of the things about Surya is just the amount of hard work that he's put in in the nets, in thinking about his game, his fitness."
The work on fitness helped Kohli hit his peak a few years ago and that is happening with Surya in the shortest format.
"If I look at Surya from a couple of years ago, just to see how he takes care of his body and the amount of time he spends on his fitness, I think he's just really earning the reward for a lot of the hard work that he's put in on and off the field, and long may it continue," the smiling coach didn't want to jinx this form.
Ravichandran Ashwin who took a three-wicket haul in the match on Sunday also lavished praise on his fellow teammate.
"The way Surya is batting, it is wonderful (to watch). Free-spirited, free will and he ain't a spring chicken but he is at a pretty early stage in his international career where he can express himself.
"The shots that he is playing, he is correctly complementing a lot of other batters in the team," Ashwin, who also had a good game against Zimbabwe said during an interaction in the mixed zone.
Asked to describe Surya's slog sweeps by fetching deliveries from pacer Richard Ngarava from outside the off-stump, Ashwin said that he is hardly surprised.
"Kya describe karroon sir? Sweep shot hai. Aap expect nahi karoge fast bowler ko koi lap wala sweep marega, but surya yeh saab khelta hai. (What do I describe? It's a sweep shot and you might not expect that Surya can sweep a fast bowler but we know that he plays these kinds of shots often than not).
