NEW DELHI: Young Mumbai and Kings XI Punjab all-rounder Suryansh Shedge was naturally full of joy after earning his first call-up to the Indian national team after replacing the injured Nitish Kumar Reddy in India’s T20I series against Ireland and England on Tuesday.“The truth is, I still can’t understand it, and I guess I won’t understand it until I get on the plane! I still can’t believe it! This has been my dream since childhood. Obviously, it’s a very special feeling. I’m very proud and happy for my parents (Prashant and Priyadarshini) because they made sacrifices for me. Without them, I wouldn’t have been able to become a cricketer,” the youngster told TOI.“My mother worked in a bank, but she quit because she had to train and compete with me,” he revealed.Shechi has been training under the guidance of former India batsman Jatin Paranjape for the past two years as the former cricketer worked hard to hone his ward’s game.Expressing gratitude to his coaches, Shechi said, “The way Manish Bangla, Jatin and Monty Desai helped me in my journey was very heart-warming because they really believed in me. If the environment is like this and everyone knows what I am capable of, if they keep telling me (about my abilities), the confidence will come naturally. So, it speaks volumes about my capabilities, which is huge for me.”It helps that Shechi has played for Mumbai Kings and Kings XI Punjab under new India T20 captain Shreyas Iyer.“That is absolutely correct. I have made four debuts under him in the last two years – SMAT, Vijay Hazare Trophy, India A and IPL. He is a person who gives 100% attitude and commitment to the team, and this mentality permeates the entire team,” Sheich said.It was announced that Shechi had been drafted as Reddy’s replacement after he suffered a quadriceps injury. BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia said: “Surjansh has earned a call-up after a string of impressive performances for the India A team in the recently concluded tri-series in Sri Lanka. The 23-year-old batsman scored 147 runs in five games and bowled 23 balls throughout the tournament. He was also one of the standout players for Mumbai in the 2024-25 season when they won the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, scoring 131 runs at a strike rate of 251.92 in the lower-middle order.“Clearly, Shechi’s ability to produce big hits in tough overs, as well as contribute some useful overs at medium pace, has earned the trust of Ajit Agarkar and his fellow selectors.India will play a two-match T20I series against Ireland in Belfast on Friday before taking on England in a five-match T20I series starting on July 1 at Chester-le-Street.However, Shetchi feels he “should have done better” in Sri Lanka’s three-match series.“I didn’t perform well in the last two games,” he lamented.India are scheduled to play five T20Is and three ODIs in England in July. By the way, India does not have the services of a star all-rounder Hardik Pandya He took part in the UK tour due to a quadriceps injury and workload-related issues. Reddy was expected to fill the void left by Hardik, but now Shechi is tasked with filling those big boots.Is he looking forward to this opportunity after his stellar performance in India A?“No. My mentality for the last two-three years has been that I shouldn’t have any expectations from cricket because I feel at this stage it’s important to remind myself why I started playing cricket. When I was 8-10 years old, I used to step on the field and I just loved the game. So, in the process, we forget that. However, over the past two-three years, I have been practicing gratitude and reminding myself why I started playing cricket,” he said.“So I don’t have any expectations,” he added.Schech’s resume is boosted by his ability to throw medium-paced, useful pitches.“I think my bowling has improved a lot in the last two years and it’s something I’ve been working on because I know how handy it is for a team. If I want to contribute, I have to improve day by day,” he commented.Shechi scored 158 runs in seven games for Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2026 at an average of 39.50.“I faced international bowlers in the IPL, so it was a big confidence booster as well. I’m very proud to be part of the playing XI after missing half a season,” he said.Who does he want to emulate as an all-rounder? The all-rounder smiled and said: “I admire Ben Stokes. If you see, he played 12 games in the Ashes. He has to do that for his team, too. He has to contribute. So I respect him very much.
