Published: Jul 31, 2024, 08:50 AM (IST)
Edited: Jul 31, 2024, 01:10 PM (IST)
Watching his colleagues take care of one another makes Suryakumar Yadav’s heart skip a beat. This is the beginning of his path to become a leader of men, not just the captain of a cricket team.
Suryakumar received “Player of the Series” in his debut series as the full-time T20I skipper after two outstanding innings in the opening two games, but taking two wickets with his off-breaks in an exciting Super Over victory was the cherry on top.
“Like I said before the series, I don’t want to be the captain, I want to be the leader,” Suryakumar said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
His colleagues, who bravely held off a low scoring attack of 137, received unceasing praise from him.
“The amount of skill they have, self-confidence, it makes my job easy. The positivity, the care for each other is unbelievable. After the last game, I told few boys will be rested and they were ready to sit out.
“They have made my job easy. I have little pressure when I bat,” he said.
According to the Indian captain, enjoying low-scoring games is as important as attaining a high score of 220 or 230. This is because it helps maintain balance in one’s life.
“More than the last over, I feel when we were around 30/4 and 48 for 5, how the boys showed character, 140 was a par score on that track. I told, if we put our heart in, we could pull it off.”
Charith Asalanka, the captain of Sri Lanka, was unable to explain why the middle order failed in each of the three games.
“Definitely, really disappointed, especially the middle-order and lower-middle order. Very bad shot selection. The thinking was spinners were bowling and that’s why Wanindu Hasaranga came up the order and we gave him the license to hit one or two boundaries,” Asalanka said.
“I think especially we played some wrong shots and when the ball gets old, the shot selection has to be spot on. We can’t give excuses and we have to do more than this.
“I want to see good batting performance in ODIs and I think the boys will do better,” the dejected Lankan skipper added.
