Suryakumar Yadav, the India captain was delighted to begin his captaincy reign with a win, as India registered a 43-run victory over Sri Lanka in the first of the three T20Is in Pallekele on Saturday, July 27.
Sri Lanka bowled first after winning the toss and thanks to an excellent opening partnership of 74 runs between Yashasvi Jaiswal (40) and Shubman Gill (34), India got a flying start. Then Suryakumar Yadav led from the front with 58 runs in 26 balls and Rishabh Pant’s 49 took India to 213/7 in 20 overs.
In response, Pathum Nissanka slammed 79 in 48 balls, but apart from him, none of the other batters crossed 30 runs as Sri Lanka could make only 170 from being 140/1 at one stage. For India, Riyan Parag took 3/5, while Arshdeep Singh and Akshar Patel took two wickets each.
In a video posted by BCCI on Sunday, Surya said about India's batting: "According to the situation, I set the tempo from the batting point of view. There is so much skill in this batting line-up that I know ke agar apna skill nahi chala, toh baaki log sambhal lenge (if my skill doesn't work, others will step up to handle the situation)."
About his role as T20I skipper, Surya said he always wants to lead by example.
"I don't want to be a captain, I want to be a leader. Bas yahi hai ke agar dava se zyada dua chalti rahe, toh time aise hi chalta rahega (good times will extend if prayers continue to work)," he added.
Parag, batting allrounder, said coach Gambhir had worked with him in the nets on how and where to bowl in different situations.
"We were communicating a lot in the nets, where to bowl, how to bowl. We had prepared for such situations, even with Gautam (Gambhir) sir, that if I am bowling in the 16th-17th over and the wicket is turning, where to bowl. The boys made it easy for me. I had to just bowl stump to stump and the ball was turning as well”, said Parag.
"Ye Riyan Parag special hi ho sakta hai because I have seen him before, even bowling in the IPL, in the nets. I even said at the press conference, he has the 'X' factor," said the skipper.
Here is the video:
