India batter Suryakumar Yadav and his rise, especially in T20 cricket, has made him a household name. Not only his teammates, but commentators and fans also, love referring to him as SKY – a nickname which he has been used to hearing for quite a few years now.
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A crucial part of the Mumbai domestic team over the years and Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League, the right-handed batter actually has been associated with this nickname since his debut season with Kolkata Knight Riders.
Former Indian cricketers have started referring to him with his very abbreviation, more so since he has had their attention post swashbuckling performances for India in T20Is. Former India cricketers Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag and Wasim Jaffer had hailed “SKY’ with words of praises after he had smashed a maiden T20I century against England at Trent Bridge last year.
Apart from the opening trio, Mohammad Kaif had referred to him with this very nickname when he had scored a quick fire half-century against Hong Kong during Asia Cup 2022.
Why Is Suryakumar Yadav Called SKY?
The official recognition of the nickname “SKY” for Suryakumar can be traced back to the year 2015 when he was in his second season at KKR. The credit for the same goes to his then-captain Gambhir and superstar-cum-co-owner Shah Rukh Khan.
SKY had its official recognition after a sweet conversation between Gambhir and Khan had gone viral across social media on April 9, 2015. Tagging Khan in his tweet, Gambhir sought his approval on the suggestion of this nickname for the explosive batter in their team. It is worth of a mention that Yadav batted between No. 4-7 across 13 innings as their designated finisher that season.
King Khan had no second-thoughts on the suggestion, and approved the same by exclaiming it to be a “great name”.
@GautamGambhir SKY it is for @surya_14kumar from now. Great name.
— Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) April 9, 2015
Gautam Gambhir Had Nicknamed Suryakumar Yadav SKY
Although there is nothing official or unofficial with respect to a nickname for a person, the idea or thought of referring to Suryakumar as SKY was the brainchild of Gambhir himself during IPL 2014.
During an interaction with Gaurav Kapur on his popular chat show Breakfast with Champions a year ago, Yadav had revealed how he had no idea the moment his KKR skipper began referring to him as SKY. It was only when Gambhir explained him to pay attention to the initials of his name (S – Surya, K – Kumar, Y – Yadav) that Yadav deciphered the reasoning behind the same.
Since their union in the IPL, Gambhir has continuously showered heaps of praises for Yadav. Post his above mentioned half-century in the Asia Cup, Gambhir had even went on to exclaim that the explosive right-handed batter should be batting ahead of former captain Virat Kohli in India’s T20I Playing XI.
