Eventually, he broke out of the vault, scoring three fifties across five T20Is against the Kiwis.
Ahmedabad: Having led India to a historic World Cup triumph, captain Suryakumar Yadav is basking in the glory of a mission well-executed. The team began a bit shakily in the group stage and were wobbling in the Super Eight before sealing must-win matches that turned heads, raised eyebrows and dropped jaws.
To be the first team to defend their title and also win it at home was the icing on the cake and Surya surely deserves a big piece of it. “It is a special feeling. Whatever happened in the last two years post the 2024 T20 World Cup until today was an unbelievable and wonderful journey,” he said.
“We are very excited about the way things have gone since 2024, when the drought ended. We won three ICC trophies in a row (2024 T20 World Cup, 2005 Champions Trophy and the 2026 T20 World Cup). We want to continue doing that,” he beamed.
“The next goal is an Olympic gold (at the 2028 Los Angeles Games in USA), followed by another T20 World Cup the same year,” the 35-year-old smiled as he eyed a third straight T20 World Cup win for India.
Surya termed the Super Eight win against Zimbabwe in Chennai as the turning point of India’s campaign. “That’s when I felt we have started playing a different brand of cricket. And when we played the quarterfinal-like game (against the West Indies) at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, I felt there was a different level of confidence in this team,” he pointed out.
The captain credited his men for playing their roles to perfection. “I think it was important to sit together and understand what this team demands. The players responded very well by understanding their responsibilities and chipping in at the right time. It was also important to take players out for dinners and talk to them when they were not doing well because those are the ones who would do something special at the right time, like how Abhishek did in the final and Sanju did in the last three games. The freedom of speech in the dressing room is also very important because if you don’t listen to everyone, you can’t take everyone together and win a trophy,” he explained.
Surya also said “courageous batting” did the trick and given the style of cricket India plays, toss is also out of the equation. “We have made the toss irrelevant, removed it from the game, because it’s not in our control. If you bat first and score 200-240, you have enough bowling and fielding to defend. And if you win the toss and choose to bowl, you have to simply chase the target,” he explained.
Asked how he handles off-colour players during the tournament, Surya said: “It is important to understand that you will fail more times than you succeed in sports. He (Abhishek) must have seen it in his career. I have seen it last year when I couldn’t get a 50 — it took me 400-plus days to score a half-century for India. You have to respect the game and try to spend time with good people around you. You have to be true to yourself as well… you can’t cheat the man in the mirror.”
Speaking about his chemistry with coach Gautam Gambhir, Surya said: “I have played cricket with Gauti bhai for four years. I knew from the beginning what our expectations would be of each other. When it comes to the squad, playing XI or the batting order we are always on the same page, I don’t remember us having an argument over any player’s position. Our goal was to achieve something good together, that’s why we were comfortable with any selection call.”
