Suryakumar Yadav-led India will take on South Africa in the Super 8 match at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday, February 22. Both the teams coming into this match are undefeated in their respective groups. Both the countries have played amazing cricket in the shortest format and were finalists in 2024, where India defeated South Africa to win their second T20 title.
Suryakumar Yadav’s team is struggling with a few concerns, the first of which is Abhishek Sharma’s poor form, being out for zero thrice in the last three innings, Tilak Verma’s poor strike rate and the pressure of playing for the home team. Before the game, SKY is addressing the press conference.
It is very difficult to say that there is no pressure- Suryakumar Yadav
When asked by Sky whether there is any pressure on India ahead of this match, the captain said, “It is very difficult to say that there is no pressure. There is definitely pressure when you are playing on home soil. Also, every person deals with it differently.”
“We’re trying our best to keep it simple. We try to stay present and down to earth. We got a good warning against USA, which helped us stay in the moment and avoid overthinking.”
Indian batsmen need to be flexible – Suryakumar Yadav
Suryakumar Yadav also discussed India’s batting flexibility, as Gautam Gambhir’s coaching tenure has seen there is no fixed batting position for any batsman except the openers. Every batsman has to adapt to the match situation and play accordingly.
Speaking on the batting position, SKY said, “Except the openers, 3-8 will have to be flexible. If no wickets fall till 8-9 overs then you can see Dubey or Pandya walking in. Even my position is flexible.”
In the press conference, Suryakumar Yadav also dismissed the rumors of Tilak Verma’s slow strike rate. As Surya said, the team management has asked him to play the same way and as per the circumstances, if two wickets fall quickly, he needs to slow down his batting and rotate the strike and not break his wicket and risk it.
SKY was also asked whether Sanju Samson will get a chance against the Proteas. Despite his hard practice on Friday, it was believed that he might get a chance, but no proof has been given by the team captain.
Toss is now being given more importance than it should be – Indian captain
Suryakumar Yadav also talked about the toss factor in Ahmedabad. Since there is a possibility of dew later in the second innings. India also tested its bowlers while bowling second against Netherlands. Here in recent times, teams batting first have won more matches, but some of the games were played during the day.
Sky said, “The toss is being given more importance now than it should be. If you bat well in the first innings, even if there is dew, you will be able to defend well with this bowling unit.” In the last game, Proteas easily achieved the target of 176 runs by 7 wickets against New Zealand. South Africa has played three matches at this ground and won twice while batting and once while chasing.
Also read: Suryakumar Yadav gives update on Sanju Samson, addresses Tilak Verma’s criticism on sluggish batting