India vs England: 'Always dream of playing under Kohli,' admits Suryakumar Yadav

Suryakumar Yadav, who recently received his maiden India call-up, has expressed his regard for Indian skipper Virat Kohli, saying he has always wanted to play under the leadership of Kohli.

The Mumbai batsman has been one of the most consistent players in India's domestic circuit in recent times and has finally been rewarded with an international call-up.

The 30-year-old Suryakumar has been included in India's Twenty20 International (T20I) squad ahead of their five-match series against England, starting March 12.

Suryakumar has been a consistent performer for Mumbai Indians (MI) for the last few years and played a key role in the Rohit Sharma- led side's fifth Indian Premier League (IPL) title triumph in IPL 2020, where he averaged 40.22 but his strike rate of 155.36 was at an all-time high.

"Firstly, (I am) looking forward to spending some quality time with the team and soaking in the atmosphere when I reach Ahmedabad. I have always dreamt of playing under Virat Kohli for a long time and I am excited to go and learn a lot from Virat as quickly as I can so that I can be a better player. I have played against him in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the way he reflects his energy on the field even after achieving so much for India is remarkable. I have seen him on the field keeping himself charged all the time. His want-to-win attitude is something to learn.

Over the years, playing with the Mumbai Indians, I have got to learn and know so much about Virat from Hardik Pandya as well. Whenever we have been together, I have asked Hardik what Virat does differently during the practice sessions that he is the best on the ground," Suryakumar told BCCI.

In the same interview, Suryakumar went on to add that he has learnt from Hardik that Kohli practices differently and he is the same on the ground.

"Hardik has also told me that Virat practices differently, the energy he has in the practice sessions be it batting or fielding is completely different and he is the same on the ground. So, these are some of the things that I want to learn from him which make him the best," Suryakumar added.

On Thursday, Suryakumar scored the second-fastest century by an Indian in List A during a Vijay Hazare game between Mumbai and Puducherry. Suryakumar recorded a 58-ball 133 and along with his skipper Prithvi Shaw, who scored 227 off 152 balls, helped Mumbai to post 457 for 4 in 50 overs. Mumbai eventually won the game by a huge margin of 233 runs.

On the same day, India defeated England by 10 wickets in the third Test on Thursday to go 2-1 up in the ongoing four-match series. The Test ended inside two days, which was only the third Test to end in two days in Asia after Australia vs Pakistan, Sharjah (2002-03) and India vs Afghanistan, Bengaluru (2018). Axar Patel was named the Player of the Match for picking a total of 11 wickets in the game.