London: India spinner Harbhajan Singh has always backed him said Suryakumar Yadav and added that that the veteran bowler keeps motivating and pushing him.
"When I left Mumbai Indians and went to Kolkata Knight Riders [in the 2014 auction], he was always behind me.' Why are you not playing for India? You are not doing justice to your talent. I think it's high time you become a little more consistent.'" ESPN Cricinfo quoted Suryakumar Yadav as saying.
"There was a lot of what you can call constructive criticism. I really enjoyed it. I could feel he wants me to go ahead and play for the country, which was the best thing. Knowing he tweeted, I was really happy. I called him and told him, 'Thank you so much Bhajju pa for tweeting for me. It means a lot that you tweeted'. He keeps motivating me, keeps pushing me, because he feels I'm not doing justice to my talent," he added.
Yadav scored 81 runs off 31 balls during Mumbai's clash against Chhattisgarh in Vijay Hazare trophy on September 28.
Praising the performance, Singh took to Twitter and wrote: "Don't know why he doesn't get picked for india after scoring runs heavily in domestic cricket @surya_14kumar keep working hard.. your time will come."
Don’t know why he doesn’t get picked for india after scoring runs heavily in domestic cricket @surya_14kumar keep working hard.. your time will come pic.twitter.com/XO6xXtaAxC
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) September 29, 2019
Yadav further stated that he loves playing 'fearless cricket' and consistency of scoring runs will open the door to playing for India.
"Well, currently I'm just enjoying the brand of cricket I am playing. I have always loved playing fearless cricket, for any format. So, instead of thinking of 'justice' or 'injustice', I feel rather I should enjoy my cricket more, keep scoring runs, keep winning games," Yadav said when asked if he feels he is doing justice to his talent.
"That will help me more to push the door and play for India. My father always checks all the websites any time an India A team is announced. He calls me as soon as he sees it, and tells me 'your name is not there'. I tell him that's not a problem. The most important thing I feel is that you have to score so much that you force them to pick you," he added.
