'When playing the IPL, he is the main batsman': VVS Laxman feels India player is an 'exceptional T20 batsman'
VVS Laxman is excited at the prospect of the batsman getting to play his maiden game for India.
When India's squad for the five-match T20I series against England was announced, it included a few surprises. Youngsters Ishan Kishan and Rahul Tewatia earned their maiden India call-ups, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Chakravarthy, Rishabh Pant and Rohit Sharma returned to the fold. But the one inclusion that had everyone talking was that of Suryakumar Yadav.
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When Yadav was left out of India's T20I squad for the Australia tour, it created a lot of noise with some former cricketers finding the batsman's exclusion baffling, especially since he was coming off a good IPL season for the Mumbai Indians. However, now that he is part of India's 19-member squad, former India batsman VVS Laxman is excited at the prospect of the batsman getting to play his maiden India game.
"He is so elegant, he is technically sound, great shots against the spin bowlers and the fast bowlers, I think he is an exceptional T20 batsman," said Laxman on the Cricket Connected Show on Star Sports.
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"Coming into the Indian squad is a dream come true for anyone because they work hard, there is so much of competition and once maybe the toughest dream in their life has been realised, nothing more pleasing and satisfying than that. What he has done is the right way to break open the door."
Yadav had a quiet Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy but was in phenomenal form in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, notching up scores of 50 against Delhi, 133 against Puducherry and 91 vs Himachal Pradesh recently. Laxman feels Yadav deserves selection given the hard work he's put together, while highlighting the big role he plays for MI.
"He has gone back to first-class cricket, scored tons of runs for Mumbai. When he is playing in the IPL, he is the main batsman along with some of the stalwarts in the Mumbai Indians team and wins matches, not only scores runs but handsomely wins matches for them," added Laxman.
