"Wanted to invent my own shot": Suryakumar Yadav on creating his trademark 'Supla Shot'

Suryakumar was addressing the audience at the 9th convocation of GLS University in Ahmedabad.

"When I started playing cricket, I wanted to do something different. I wanted to invent my own shot, which would be a trademark, and people will remember me with it. I kept practising them and playing them over and over in my mind, and kept thinking about executing them so that I was always ready during the game. After I played that shot, I never looked back," he said.

Suryakumar indeed has a shot unique to him and one he could file a trademark for, given his mastery of it. It is known as the 'Supla Shot', which is an inventive ramp/scoop with lightning-quick wrists played over the wicketkeeper's head or over fine leg with the intention to clear the short boundary behind the batter. With the short boundaries often used in T20I cricket, especially during the Indian Premier League (IPL), this shot has become a massive weapon in Surya's success as a T20I batter.

However, with T20I action set to take place starting from home T20Is against New Zealand and then the T20 World Cup co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka, Indian fans would be hoping to see more of Surya's trademark shot as he has struggled with form this year. Once known for his mastery in piercing through gaps, playing with the opposition's minds and field settings, Surya has not come even remotely close to the sky-high standards set he had set ever since his T20I debut. This year, he has made just 218 runs at an average of 13.62, a sub-par strike rate of just over 123 and a best score of 47*.

After legends Rohit Sharma (4,231 runs) and Virat Kohli (4,188 runs), the Indian skipper would be aiming to become just the third Indian to touch the 3,000-run mark in T20Is, further sealing his legendary status as a T20I batter. In 99 T20Is and 93 innings, he has made 2,788 runs at an average of 35.69, a strike rate of 163.23, with four centuries and 21 fifties and a best score of 117.

Indian squad for T20 World Cup and home NZ series: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Rinku Singh.

- ANI