Mumbai: "He's a perfect role model for youngsters," said former India batsman VVS Laxman while praising Suryakumar Yadav, who has earned his maiden call-up into the Indian team.
The right-handed batsman has been picked in the T20 squad for the upcoming five-match series against England, beginning this Friday.
While praising Suryakumar, Laxman said that the 31-year-old is a perfect example of how success is not too far away if one stays patient.
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"He deserves it, I think he is a great role model for youngsters, especially in India; because they lose patience very quickly - because all positive run-getters in first-class cricket expect to get into the Indian team - but it is difficult. There is so much quality, so much talent, and so much competition, but what did Suryakumar do? - he goes back to first-class cricket, scores runs for Mumbai, whenever he gets an opportunity for Mumbai Indians - he is a positive run-getter," said Laxman on Star Sports' show 'Game Plan'.
"He plays in tough situations and wins the match and that's what you expect from a player. Ultimately there is a saying which my coach taught me early on, 'If the selectors are not opening the door, break open the door!', the only way you can do that is by your performance - we're not sure if he will get to play in the playing XI but he definitely deserves a spot in the squad of that T20 Indian team," he added.
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Suryakumar has been a consistent performer in the domestic circuit and he has stellar IPL seasons for Mumbai Indians over the last two years. There were a lot of questions asked when he was not picked for the white-ball leg against Australia, but the selectors have now picked him for the England T20I series.
Suryakumar Yadav earned his maiden call-up into the Indian squad along with the likes of Ishan Kishan and Rahul Tewatia.
India's T20I squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Yuzvendra Chahal, Varun Chakravarthy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Rahul Tewatia, T Natarajan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur.
