India’s T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav was all praise for the exploits of the country’s mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy, who is making waves bamboozling opposition in the ICC Champions Trophy.
“Firstly, I’m really happy for him and he fully deserves all the recognition that he is getting. He has been a really hardworking cricketer and have spoken to him also a lot of times since he has made his comeback into international cricket where he left in 2021 and when he came back. He’s become tough mentally and has been smiling a lot lately and started taking everything in his stride and has been working really hard and I wish him all the best,” Suryakumar stated, on the sidelines of a promotional event of a skincare brand.
Talking about the trend of all-rounders getting prominence in India’s playing XI and if specialist bowlers were getting sidelined, Suryakumar replied in the negative.
“At the end of the day, it’s all about the skill and what skills you offer to the team. And if it’s in the best interests of the team, then you have to pick those bowlers,” he added.
The Indian Mr 360 felt having multiple format captains in the same IPL side, Mumbai Indians in this case, was not a problem at all.
“The thing is as soon as we go to our house, its like a family. We don’t think about having three or four captains. We are one team over there. It’s as good as an institution that we have grown over there and gone on to play for India. So when we get in there as a unit, yes there are a lot of captains there. But we sit together and take a call on how we want to take the ship forward,” he added.
Suryakumar revealed his aim is to play all three formats as he enjoys the sport.
“When I started playing cricket, it was all red ball, then I came into white ball format and then into T20Is. But now its important that I play all the formats. I enjoy the sport and love playing the sport with a lot of passion.”
Reminiscing about his famous catch of David Miller from the 2024 T20 World Cup final against South Africa, Suryakumar became nostalgic and felt grateful for the moment.
“I had about 10-15 seconds of time as soon as I saw the ball going in the air. I looked at my captain and he was at the long on position and he was holding his knees and I’m the only guy who can try and reach the ball and push it inside, maybe concede a four. We always practice for these things but I didn’t expect it would happen in this kind of a situation at a World Cup final in six balls and 16 runs situation. I feel blessed and grateful that I could do something special for the country,” he explained.
