There was a time when Indian and Australian cricketers used to be fierce rivals but not anymore. Call it what you want but it is a ramification of the Indian Premier League that overseas players credit their Indian counterparts for achieving success in the biggest T20 league around the world.
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A latest example of the same has been presented by Australia all-rounder Cameron Green after he credited Suryakumar Yadav for making his life easy in his maiden season for Mumbai Indians earlier this year.
Bought for a hefty price of INR 17.50 crore, Green didn’t hold back words to be wax lyrical about Yadav. Biggest pillars of the franchise during IPL 2023, Yadav and Green had emerged as MI’s highest and third-highest run-scorers respectively this season.
Cameron Green Credits Suryakumar Yadav For Aggressive Strokeplay
It is to be noted that Yadav neither tried to modify Green’s technique nor gave him any hack around countering spinners on Indian wickets. It’s just that Yadav’s presence at No. 4 provided Green immense freedom to bat at No. 3.
Featuring on The Grade Cricketer Podcast lately, Green disclosed how he received assurance knowing that Yadav would be batting after him. The liberty of playing his shots without having to think about the consequences perhaps was a major reason behind the 24-year old player finding success at will in his debut IPL season.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous especially when you see him [Suryakumar Yadav] in training playing those shots. It’s just the confidence he gives you to go out there and be so aggressive because you know you got SKY behind you. I think that’s one of the beauties of my batting position. I got Rohit [Sharma] and Ishan [Kishan] in front of me and SKY is just behind me.”
It is to be noted that Green was shuffled up and down in the batting order throughout the season. However, his best performances came at No. 3 where he scored 419 runs at an average and strike rate of 52.37 and 162.40 respectively. Green, who opened the batting once in the 16th season of the IPL, played the role of a finisher five times but without much success.
Cameron Green And Suryakumar Yadav Batted Together Nine Times During IPL 2023
As Mumbai’s designated one and two-down batters, Green and Yadav combined for some crucial partnerships in the last season. Other than their combined four-digit returns, what majorly allowed MI to qualify for the playoffs in spite of captain Rohit Sharma‘s poor form was the impact created by Green and Yadav.
Green’s first century in the cash-rich league had come against Sunrisers Hyderabad in a must-win match at the Wankhede Stadium. Hence, powering Indians to a clinical victory on the back of achieving a 201-run target. Green, who stitched a 128-run second-wicket partnership alongside Sharma, followed it with putting together an unbeaten 53-run stand with vice-captain Yadav.
The tall right-handed batter took utmost advantage of his long levers to score 100* (47) with the help of eight fours and eight sixes. Anything which was in his zone was punished with disdain by him that night.
Both Green and Yadav were also at their smashing best in a league match against Punjab Kings. Although the team couldn’t chase down a 215-run target, they added 75 (36) for the third wicket to put on a spectacle of big-hitting. In IPL 2023 Eliminator against Lucknow Super Giants, the two right-handed batters had added 66 (38) to propel Mumbai to a winning innings total of 182/8.
