Unconventional, fearless and someone who excels in not playing by the book. t2 caught up with KKR batsman Suryakumar Yadav on April 22.
Your Twitter bio says you’re ‘confidently weird’...
Ever since I started playing cricket, I wanted to be different. I wanted to express myself. On field, you can see the type of strokes I play, but off it as well I like to have a colourful life.
I keep colouring my hair, keep changing the colour of my cars and bikes. Whenever I see a new colour which I feel will be new and catchy, I do it without thinking twice.
So you’re a colourful guy…
I’ve been like this for the last 3-4 years. My favourite colour is electric blue… the India team colour. Also fluorescent green and yellow because they’re really bright.
What sort of reactions do you get?
I recently coloured my beard blue. The reactions were crazy from everyone!
I consult a few people like my wife, sister, parents… but if I feel it’s right, I do it. They don’t say much because they know these things don’t really distract me when I am playing. You just get one life, so do everything!
What’s next on your bucket list?
I am fond of cars and bikes but there are only a few colours left. But I’ll try whatever I can in terms of adventure.
Do you like riding or driving more?
Riding, because it gives me mental peace when I am a long way from home. My first bike was a Harley-Davidson. I wanted more power and a huge look so now I have a Hayabusa. I love driving as well. My first car was a Hyundai i20 and as soon as I got an IPL contract (laughs)... I upgraded it to a Toyota Fortuner. Now I have a BMW 530d.
How much colour has marriage added to your life?
A lot. Because it wasn’t planned. It was going to happen two years later, but I took a step which wasn’t planned... it’s a long story (laughs), but it’s going great!
Devisha (wife) has brought a lot of mental support and stability. I used to get very confused after games, but now I just go up to her after games and ask her, and she comes up with brilliant solutions!
So you two talk cricket?
I don’t talk much cricket with her, but she enjoys watching. On match days whenever I look at her, she’s always so excited, sometimes more than me! (Laughs)
You also got her name tattoed!
Yeah, I’ve got full sleeve now, full back and also the name of my wife in the last one year.
Whoever we spoke to in KKR said you’re the prankster of the team...
Prankster? I love spending time with everyone. This is the time of the year when you get to see everyone. So I talk, laugh a lot, gain whatever I can from them. Pranking is just instinctive. I just like to stay happy and make people smile!
Who is the happiest in the team?
You won’t believe me... but Gautam Gambhir is the happiest! (Smiles) I’ve seen the other side of him and I think he’s the happiest. You won’t see that on field because he’s very intense, but off it, I’ve seen him smile like crazy!
SURYA’S SPECIALS
Song
I like soft music. Any song of Sonu Nigam or Arijit Singh
Movie
I like comedy movies. Must have seen Hera Pheri more than 500 times! Golmaal, Dhamaal, Andaz Apna Apna....
Comedian
Sunil Grover
Actor
Shah Rukh Khan
Actress
Deepika Padukone
And what makes you happy?
Whenever I see a bunch of our players having a chat and laughing around... I just join it. At home as well, when I see everyone happy, it automatically makes me happy.
Finally, what does coming back to Calcutta feel like?
Feels like home. We mostly go to a mall, watch movies and relax. But I want to visit Victoria Memorial and Kalighat temple.
I love the biryani from Arsalan... it’s one of the best biryanis. I have it on my cheat days every week. Once I took rasgullas back home from Calcutta and I put my hand in my bag for my phone, and had a rasgulla in my hand! So, no rasgulla this time (laughs). But I’ll take back some mishti doi for sure.
But most importantly, I want to leave Calcutta with the third star on our jersey and we’re working really hard for it.
SC & RD
