New Delhi: In the time span of just 96 hours, after their heartbreaking loss in the ICC World Cup 2023, against Australia, team India is all set to take on the same side in the first of the five matches T20i series at Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium Visakhapatnam, on Thursday.
With most of the players from the regular team are given rest for the series, including the regular captain Rohit Sharma, and the vice-captain Hardik Pandya, already out with the injury, the world number 1 T20i batsman and the star Indian batsman, Surya Kumar Yadav has been given the charge to lead the Indian side for the series.
Get. Set. GO 💥
T20I Mode 🔛#TeamIndia | #INDvAUS | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/n4Watr5K4o
— BCCI (@BCCI) November 23, 2023
Surya Kumar Yadav was one of the prime targets of the media, after a devastating performance of the team in the World Cup finals, people were a little stunned as he was named as the captain of the side against Australia, in the upcoming T20i series.
Also with the memories of the World Cup finals loss still fresh in people’s minds, the effect was on display on Wednesday, when the customary press conference led by the Indian team’s captain before any match, i.e., Surya Kumar Yadav, was attended by only two journalists, when the usual numbers are close to 100 for any press conference.
Even Surya was surprised to see the number and asked, “Only two,” after seeing the crowd.
It takes another level of fearlessness from #SuryaKumarYadav to come and talk about fearlessness after that fearful attitude in ODI World Cup final.
Let’s see what this fellow does in the #INDvsAUS series. pic.twitter.com/GjuUQWJmfQ
— Nirmal Jyothi (@majornirmal) November 22, 2023
Surya Kumar Yadav seemed ready for curve balls but the two journalists, probably from PTI and ANI, ran out of questions to ask, as the whole press conference was done and dusted in just 4 minutes.
Hard pill to swallow
Upon being asked about his feelings about the loss in the finals of the ICC World Cup 2023, Surya replied, “It is difficult it will take time, it can’t be that you wake up 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.”
Press Confrence #INDvsAUS #SuryaKumarYadav pic.twitter.com/1juF6KIhDf
— Surya Kumar Yadav (@Beuniqueboi) November 23, 2023
“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,” the newly appointed captain added.
Teams for the series
Surya Kumar Yadav, Prasidh Krishna and Ishan Kishan are the only players to be part of the T20i side, for the Australian series featured in the World Cup.
Rinku Singh is ready to roar against Australia 🐯🏏🔥 #INDvAUS#RinkuSingh #CricketTwitter #INDvAUS #SuryaKumarYadav #IndianCricket #IPL2024 #IPLAuction #T20I #T20WorldCup #AEWDynamite #NJDevils pic.twitter.com/JMeD8fsgm1
— CrAZy CriCkeT 🏏 (@crazycric0419) November 23, 2023
On the other hand, Australia has retained most of their players, except the regular skipper Pat Cummins who is being given rest after a long tournament, the wicketkeeper batsman Travis Head is named the stand-in captain for the Australian side.
