'That was the turning point'- Suryakumar Yadav and Rahul Dravid have a heart-to-heart conversation about Yadav's meteoric rise in cricket

Rahul Dravid Suryakumar Yadav (Image source: Twitter)

Suryakumar Yadav is hoarding all the limelight at the moment after his sensational year in international cricket. The 32-year-old batter became only the second Indian player to hit 3 centuries in T20I. in just 45 deliveries, the right-hand batter made 100 runs and brought the Sri Lanka team to its knees.

On the back of his sensational innings, India won the match and with it the series as well. Suryakumar however hasn’t always enjoyed this much success in cricket. He has remained on the fringes for most of his prime.

Now however he is enjoying the success that his hard work has brought. In a chat with Team India's head coach, Yadav reminisced of a time that could be termed as his ‘turning point.’

“I know that your wife travels with you a lot,” said Dravid in a video chat with Suryakumar on BCCI.tv. “I know she has pushed you a lot on the fitness side of things. The fitness work and diet that you've done, something that is very noticeable for me as a coach is just the (change in) lifestyle, having seen you a little bit in India A and when you came to the NCA and did the yo-yo test two years ago and dived to cross the line,” said Dravid as both him and Suryakumar broke out laughing.

They have sacrificed a lot- Yadav

Suryakumar Yadav accredited his family for the success that he has achieved in the game.

Suryakumar said that the yo-yo test Dravid mentioned is in fact something that he sees as a turning point. “My family has played the most important role in my cricket journey. When I started playing I know that they were the ones who helped me get out of the box. My dad is an engineer, there was no history of sports in my family. I had to be a little different for him to see a spark in me and then he pushed me. They have sacrificed a lot,” he said.

“My wife. After marriage, she has been pushing me really hard. In terms of nutrition and staying fit. The fitness test in Bangalore I still remember. That was the actually the turning point. I really enjoyed that and we have been talking cricket a lot. We discuss how I can be better and we really enjoy doing that,” said Suryakumar.