India and Australia, after clashing in the final of the ICC World Cup 2023, will now shift focus to the shortest format of the game. The two sides will now clash in a series of 5 T20Is, beginning with the first game in Vizag on November 23, 2023.
Suryakumar Yadav will captain the Indian team for the first time as the T20 squad is full of IPL performers who are yet to prove themselves at the highest level. The likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, and others will have the opportunity to shine and stake a claim in the first-choice team.
Rohit, Virat Kohli, and KL Rahul are not part of the squad and Hardik Pandya wasn’t considered due to his recovery from an ankle injury suffered during the World Cup.
"I met the squad in the afternoon today. I told them let's be selfless when you go onto the field. I am a guy who doesn't think about personal milestones. I have told them to keep the team first. Keeping the (2024) T20 World Cup in mind, all the games we are going to play are very important. I want us to be fearless,” Suryakumar said in the presser on the eve of the first T20I.
Who among Jitesh Sharma and Ishan Kishan will be the designated wicket-keeper batter in the team?
"Ishan has been doing well, we wanted to keep continuity. He has been doing really well for us, including the Asia Cup and World Cup, batting in different positions. Both of them are front runners. We will take a call tonight," Surya said.
Meanwhile, there were questions about India’s performance in the recent World Cup 2023 as well. Suryakumar Yadav was all praises for Rohit Sharma for how he led the team from the front.
"He (Rohit) has set the example. It was a completely different Rohit Sharma, he walked the talk. What we talked about in team meetings he did the same thing on the ground. We are very proud of him, he led by example and hopefully, we will replicate that (in the T20s),” he said.
However, he acknowledges that it will take time to recover from the emotional impact of the heartbreaking loss in the ODI World Cup final, which occurred just three days ago.
"It is difficult it will take time, it can't be that you wake up the next morning and you forget everything what happened. It was a long tournament. We would have loved to win it. But as you get up in the morning the sun rises again, there is light at the end of the tunnel. You have to move on. It is a fresh team (T20 squad), really looking forward to the challenge,” he added.
Surya said support from the fans and families is helping him and the rest of the players to move on from the disappointment.
"Obviously, a little disappointing but when you look back at the journey it was a great campaign. All of India and our families were proud of the way everyone displayed their talent on the ground.
We played a positive brand of cricket throughout the tournament. We can be very proud of that," Suryakumar signed off.
(PTI inputs)
