Every now and then, a cool hero comes along, and we just want to be like him. OK, so this is not a gender neutral statement… I’m talking about us impressionable young boys, who become middle-aged men that still carry a romanticized vision of their own masculinity… despite the growing paunch and receding hairline.
It could be the rough-and-tough Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones, the womanizing and suave Sean Connory as James Bond, or Amitabh Bacchan as the angry young man with a baritone voice as his signature. They oozed panache and sex appeal. Some were suave, some were gruff, and each one embodied heroic masculinity… And we all wanted to be them.
I can’t think of a modern cricketer who’s walked out on a cricket field with the same effect as Suryakuma Yadav. Sure, there have been others of note – MSD as Mr calm-cool-collected, Michael Clark with his boyish charm, Kevin Peterson and his bad-boy attitude, or even the gentlemanly poise of Rahul Dravid.
SKY strides out to bat as if to suggest to the audience, “sit up and watch, this is what you came to see”. He executes with confidence, aggression and sensibility in every shot selection. Oh, and he has a generous dash of arrogance, because he knows how good he is, and how long he has been overlooked. Here is a player that had to earn his chances by embarrassing the selectors with stat after stat, performance after performance. Yet instead of carrying a chip on his shoulder, he calmly dusts off his shoulder after a no-look six off his 1st ball ever in a T20-I !!! Instead of holding a grudge, he encouragingly smiles back at the bowler, as if to say ”not bad, keep trying”. He manipulates the field and the scoreboard. Have you ever seen him show a glimpse of hesitation due to the moment in the match? Never.
Suryakumar Yadav has brought a deadly mix of maturity, assuredness and gumption to the Indian white ball middle order. We can’t get enough of him, and we all want to be like him at our Sunday club matches.
We loved our heroes because we knew they’d always come out on top. Laser beams nor outlandish henchmen could ruffle James Bond. Amitabh would grow up poor, angry and fighting, but he’d always get his revenge, while flicking cigarette butts and one-liners. Harrison Ford would hustle his way out of every situation, and do it with a wink and a smile. Next time you see SKY bat, look again, and you’ll see the Mumbai hustler in him. With every run he is avenging his revenge on the selectors. And he knows he’s living the 1-in-a-billion opportunity to play cricket for India, which is why he relishes every moment with a grin ready to flash. He’s having the time of his life, and the sky is the limit for this new-age cricket hero.
Brilliant! Enjoyed it thoroughly! One of my favorite cricketers to debut recently on the international scene and you captured the feelings beautifully. Well done!