Suryakumar Yadav: India’s T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav wants to be not just the captain but the leader of the group. He expressed his views before the second T20 match against England in Chennai. Let us tell you, under the leadership of Suryakumar, the Indian team defeated England by seven wickets in the first match of the five-match T20 International series at Eden Gardens on Wednesday. The home team took an early 1-0 lead in the five-match T20 series.
Suryakumar said on Hotstar’s special show ‘Superstars’, “I think I don’t just want to be the captain. I want to be the leader. If we want to achieve something as a group, everyone has to be on the same page.” These are the little things I keep telling them – the basics, good habits to follow on and off the field, and just leave your body and whatever happens. Enjoy it.”
Suryakumar was appointed as India’s T20 captain last year after his predecessor Rohit Sharma retired from the format. Rohit, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja bid goodbye to their T20 careers after winning the T20 World Cup title in Barbados. Reflecting on his thoughts on becoming India’s T20 captain, Suryakumar called it an emotional moment, which he celebrated with his family.
He said, “It was an emotional moment. I called my family, and we had a good conversation. Then I took a deep breath, felt the moment, and celebrated. We sat at home, I, with my wife’s help Cooked some food – and enjoyed the evening. It was fun and a very special feeling.”
Let us tell you, amidst the ongoing concerns over the fitness of fast bowler Mohammed Shami, the Indian team will take the field against England in the second T20 International cricket match to be held on Saturday with the aim of repeating the performance of the first match and continuing the winning campaign.
India took an early lead in the five-match series by winning the first match by seven wickets in Kolkata on Wednesday. The Indian team would definitely like to field Shami but it will all depend on his fitness.
However, India did not miss the 34-year-old fast bowler in the first match. In this match, fast bowler Arshdeep Singh and spinner Varun Chakraborty played an important role in India’s victory by performing brilliantly.
The Eden Gardens pitch was providing enough help to fast and spin bowlers, but the Chepauk Stadium pitch is likely to provide more help to the spinners. In such circumstances, it is certain that Varun, vice-captain Akshar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi will remain in the playing eleven.
From England’s side, experienced spinners Adil Rashid and Liam Livingstone will present a challenge to the Indian batsmen. As far as its fast bowlers are concerned, none of its bowlers except Jofra Archer could fare against Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson in the first match.
India will also expect a big innings from captain Suryakumar Yadav who was out early in the last match. In fact, Suryakumar has been able to score only two half-centuries in 11 innings after the T20 World Cup last year.
Team India for T20 series against England: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Verma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel (vice-captain), Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakraborty, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel (wicketkeeper).
