‘Part of leading group…’: Suryakumar Yadav shares views about bond with Hardik Pandya ahead of England T20I series

India’s T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav came up to the pre-match press conference ahead of the first T20I against England, set to be played January 22. Suryakumar was in high spirit, and his one-liners were the highlight of the conference.

Suryakumar is going to make a return in international cricket after the home series against Bangladesh in October 2024. India and England are going to lock horns against each other in a five-match t20I series and a three-match ODI series before the Champions Trophy 2025.

The T20I skipper shared about his relationship with Hardik Pandya before the series opener of the T20I series. Surya was appointed T20I captain after Rohit Sharma hung his boots from the format following the victory in the 2024 T20 World Cup.

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Surya spoke about a strong bond an mutual understanding exists between the two. The Indian skipper acknowledged the important role of Pandya in the leadership group, and highlighting their bond getting deeper over the yars.

“The relationship with Hardik is really great. It’s just the added responsibility that I have got. Hardik is part of the leading group. We have been good friends,” Suryakumar said.

The 34-year-old had also shared how he was disappointed with his underwhelming performance in ODIs. He admitted that him being excluded from Indian squad for Champions Trophy was nothing but the consequence of his struggle in the format, along with coming clean about needing to improve in the ODI side to regain his place in the team.

“It hurts that I haven’t done well in ODIs. That’s why I’m not in the Champions Trophy squad. If I had done well, I would have been there,” he added.

India will face England in five-match T20I series, set to to begin January 22 at the Eden gardens.
India’s squad for T20I series:
Suryakumar Yadav (c), Axar Patel (vc), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya , Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Shami, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar and Dhruv Jurel (wk)