T20 Mumbai League important for players looking to rise through ranks, says Suryakumar Yadav

Mumbai, May 7 (PTI) India T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav on Wednesday said that the third edition of the T20 Mumbai League will provide the city’s players a platform to rise through ranks at the state level and aim to play for the country.

The third T20 Mumbai League, after earlier editions in 2018 and 2019, will be organised right after the conclusion of the Indian Premier League from May 26 to June 8.

“My motivation coming back to this team has always been there from 2018 when we won when we played the first edition of T20 Mumbai season,” Suryakumar, who is the icon player for Triumph Knights Mumbai NorthEast, told the media.

“I feel this league is very important for all the cricketers who want to make a mark going forward for Mumbai cricket, for IPL franchise, and then going on to play for India,” he added.

Suryakumar termed Mumbai youngsters such as Ayush Mhatre and Angkrish Raghuvanshi as “crazy young talent” who were among the highest paid players in the auction.

“Both are very promising cricketers and crazy young talent, very hardworking… good boys. You're seeing what's happening with them when they're playing franchise cricket (in the IPL),” said Suryakumar who was present in T20 Mumbai auction since early morning despite a late finish in the IPL match between Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans here.

“It's really great thing two young boys making a mark in franchise cricket at such a young age, I can say dominating and good to see them like that,” he added.

Talking about his experience with young players across the country, Suryakumar said they are all “very disciplined”.

“All the cricketers are quite focussed right now looking at the way cricket is moving forward, but still, looking at them, it feels like they're very disciplined right now,” he said.

Suryakumar said the league will be an important chapter in the calendar for the Mumbai players.

“It's really important for all the boys working really hard day in and day out in Mumbai cricket. As you must have seen in 2018, Shivam Dubey had a terrific T20 Mumbai season and then he went on to make a name for himself,” he said.

“Similarly, having a having such league for your state is a big boost for all the cricketers from A division, First-Class (and) List A,” he added. PTI DDV PDS PDS