Held back Surya as we needed him to bat till end: Rajput

Suryakumar Yadav, who had a couple of promising cameos to his name but didn’t really get a big score in the league stages, came up with a couple of Man of the Match performances in the T20 Mumbai League playoffs with knocks of 63 against SoBo Supersonics and an unbeaten 90 in the final against Shivaji Park Lions, while batting first to set up wins for his side.

Surya came in to bat at No 7 in the final against Shivaji Park Lions after the powerplays had ended. Triumph Knights were struggling at 34/5 before he took guard with Parikshit Valsangkar and stitched an undefeated 148-run partnership for the sixth wicket. “We decided to hold him back as wickets fell early and the new ball was doing a bit. We wanted him to bat till the end,” Triumph Knights mentor Lalchand Rajput said.

Rajput said that he had a word with Surya before he went in to bat and was determined to put up a show. “I had a word with him. I told him you are the senior most guy in the team with plenty of IPL experience. You have been on and off and it is a big platform for you to do well,” he said.

The former India cricketer was the manager of the winning Indian cricket team for the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship 2007 held in South Africa and said that winning a title in the T20 Mumbai league felt the same. “It was a great feeling, pretty much like the T20 World Cup win. The first game was crucial and we started on a winning note due to a remarkable chase by Akash. I had told him to stay there till the 15th over an he did exactly that.  It was good we won as it gave players the belief and confidence. We lost just one game in seven matches which shows the character of team.”

The tournament attracted a healthy crowd especially in the final and Rajput felt many players performed well.  

“ It was an  important platform for the players to perform in front of millions of people through TV. We had players like Akash Parkar, Aditya Dhumal, Sumit Ghadigaonkar, Vinayak Bhoir and Valsangkar doing well (in our team). Surya batted brilliantly and everyone chipped in. If these players keep performing sky is the limit for them,” he said.