“Same train will continue, only the engine has changed”: India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav

Pallekele [Sri Lanka], July 26 (ANI): India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav has asserted that the team will continue to work in the same fashion in the shortest format of cricket even after the departure of the stalwart trio.

India successfully ended their 13-year-long ICC World Cup drought by lifting the coveted T20 title in Barbados last month.

India’s T20 World Cup final carried a mixed bag of emotions for the Indian fans. There were tears of joy as India ended their ICC World Cup drought, which lasted for 13 years. There were tears of sorrow as well, with the star trio of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Ravindra Jadeja bidding adieu to the shortest format of cricket.

Even in the absence of the stalwart trio, the T20I set-up consists of the majority of players. Suryakumar believes that the team will continue to function in a similar fashion.

“The same train will continue. Only the engine has changed. The bogies (carriages) are the same. It’s now been 10 years since we’ve been working together, even though I went into a different franchise in 2018, and he also went to another. We used to keep in touch and talk about the game, even if we were on different teams. There have been learnings in the last six years too when I was not with him,” Suryakumar said, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

The T20I series against Sri Lanka will mark the first assignment of the new head coach, Gautam Gambhir. Suryakumar worked with Gambhir during his time in the Indian Premier League franchise Kolkata Knight Riders.

While talking about his relationship with Gambhir, Suryakumar said, “Our bond is special. We have spoken about the upcoming three T20s, not in great detail, but we know each other fairly well. We can read each other’s body language. There are some things he understands, even if I don’t say them in words. There’s a special bond between a captain and a coach. I’m very excited for this journey.”

Suryakumar played under the leadership of Rohit Sharma in the Indian team as well as with the Mumbai Indians. The dynamic batter opened up about the lessons he learned from the seasoned opener and said, “What I’ve learned from Rohit is that he is always a leader on and off the field, not just as a captain. There’s a big difference between the two. A leader stands with his players and guides them about how to play T20s, how to win games, and that’s what I’ve learned from him.”

While addressing his own versatile batting style, Suryakumar does not expect that captaincy will prove to be a hurdle in his play style.

“I don’t think my batting style will change, as such. There will be pressure, but the pressure is always there; otherwise, there’s no fun in playing. I’m going to play the way I’ve been playing so far. Nothing will change. It’s better for me, in fact, because I can tell the team openly what brand of cricket we have to play in T20s going forward. I’ll enjoy it more and can probably pass the pressure on to others (laughs) and enjoy my game,” Suryakumar stated.

India will play the first T20I of the three-match series on Saturday in Pallekele. Shubman Gill will serve as Suryakumar’s deputy throughout the series.

T20I Squad for the Sri Lanka series: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Riyan Parag, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, and Mohammed Siraj.