The front foot is stretched wide across the off stump as he leans into the yorker which holds its line but ends up as a full toss. The head is falling over when a crouching Suryakumar Yadav meets the ball, yet he makes the best possible contact to scoop/ sweep over backward square leg or fine leg with precision for a six.

Surya’s versatility has been the hallmark of his batting as he, along with Virat Kohli, has kept India’s runrate flourishing in the middle overs of the T20 World Cup. His strong wrists and intent have made the whip-flick a productive stroke in the slog overs.

Ask Richard Ngarava or Lungi Ngidi and they will testify. Conditions have been a misnomer as Surya has consistently turned this smack behind-square into one of his trademark hits. The late snap of the wrists lends power and thrust to the shot. But it is not just this which has transformed Surya into one of the most feared batters in T20 cricket.

Suryakumar Yadav’s exhibition of shot. AP/PTI, Getty Images

The helicopter lash over long on has shades of Mahendra Singh Dhoni while the swat over the wicketkeeper or the cover region as he twirls the bottom hand to apply the punch has earned him the sobriquet of a 360-degree player.

Lots of rubber-ball cricket on concrete surfaces in his formative years helped him master the sweep and the scoop. He already has 225 runs in five matches at a strike rate of 193.96 on his first tour of Australia, a country where many of his peers have struggled to find feet.

He has changed the dynamics of batting by exploring angles others have never dared to tread.

“Sweep shots. You don’t expect somebody to play lap sweep and square sweep to fast bowlers. But Surya plays these,” Ravichandran Ashwin explained.

“That is his natural game... He always plays on instincts and the spark in him has never remained suppressed,” Pravin Amre, who worked with him for four years from 2014 as Mumbai’s Ranji coach and then at Mumbai Indians for a year, told The Telegraph. He excels at playing behind the wicket, using the pace to derive maximum benefits.

It is just that his skills are getting noticed now at the international level. But he has always batted with such power, flexibility and control. Amre recalled Surya playing some similar whip-flicks over fine leg/deep square leg against Ashok Dinda during an SK Acharya Memorial Challenger Trophy match at the Jadavpur University Campus ground in October 2014.

Suryakumar Yadav’s exhibition of shot. AP/PTI, Getty Images

The start to his international career was no less dramatic. Getting to bat in his second appearance at No.3 in Ahmedabad, he whipped the first delivery, a short one from Jofra Archer, over the fine leg boundary for a six. There have been few better statements on debut — 57 off 31 balls.

Even today, whenever he is at home, he doesn’t miss out on club cricket. He has never compromised on preparations and is reaping the rewards of practising on fast bouncy wickets at Mumbai’s Parsi Gymkhana in the lead-up to the World Cup. Meticulous planning and execution in the company of former Mumbai opener Vinayak Mane have helped him to excel Down Under.

“He has always been like that and is a perfectionist. Success isn’t an accident for him. He would at times practise at the centre wicket for six-seven hours telling the bowlers to pitch on certain specific areas to wipe out the flaws in his batting,” recalled Amre.

“He would ask the bowlers to provide options... yorker length and wide yorkers. That allowed him to perfect that slog sweep and whip-flick that people have been raving about. He’s always been a master at playing the sweep and can quickly get into advantageous positions. He knew his strengths and perfected the art of innovative batting,” said Amre.

Surya was picked up by Mumbai Indians at the IPL auction in 2018. Under Rohit Sharma, he could bat at his favourite No.3 position which helped him prosper.At KKR previously, he scored only 608 runs from 54 games over four seasons but amassed 512 and 424 runs over the following two years at Mumbai Indians. KKR never allowed him the No.3 spot.

Amre recalled how Surya used to crib about not getting the break while his Mumbai teammates like Rohit and Ajinkya Rahane prospered for India. “He had that left-behind feeling... I always made him believe that his time would come and he had to wait patiently,” Amre recounted.

At 32, Surya has since cemented his place in the team without fuss. He is the most talked-about batter in world cricket and can change the complexion of a match on his own, be it in the Powerplay, middle overs or at the death. His time has come.

Mr 360° calls all the shots

New Delhi: Suryakumar Yadav has evolved into the new Mr 360-degree and India will struggle to put up enough runs on the board if he fails to fire, Sunil Gavaskar has said.

Now the world’s No.1 T20 batter, SKY — as Suryakumar is known — has dazzled in his maiden T20 World Cup.

Suryakumar in action. AP/PTI, Getty Images

His powerful knocks in the Super 12 stage have gone a long way in taking India to the semi-finals of the showpiece event.

Against Zimbabwe at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Sunday, he smashed an unbeaten 61 off 25, sending the ball to every corner of the field.

“Each of those innings was pretty much 360 degrees. He is the new Mr 360 degree. There was that one shot that he hit for a six just to the left of the wicketkeeper. Then he went a little squarer in the final overs, for example, taking advantage of the angle that the bowler was trying to aim at.

“Then also the lofted extra cover drive, he has got every shot in the book. There was a straight drive as well,” Gavaskar was quoted as saying on a television channel.

The cricket legend feels Suryakumar is the reason India has succeeded in scoring totals they could defend.

“He is actually turning out to be the player who is taking India to totals which you can defend.

“The score India got was the highest T20I score at the MCG. Without his 61 not out, India would not have reached even 150,” he added.

PTI