"Whenever you get hit, he comes and says it was a good ball" - Axar Patel hails bowlers' captain Suryakumar Yadav
Team India all-rounder Axar Patel has hailed new T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav, terming him as a bowlers' captain. While praising the latter, he stated that Suryakumar not only backs the bowlers but also gives them freedom to execute their plans.
India beat Sri Lanka by 43 runs in the first T20I of the three-match series in Pallekele on Saturday, July 27. Batting first after losing the toss, the Men in Blue put up 213-7 on the board before restricting Sri Lanka to 170.
Axar was one of the star performers for India with the ball, claiming 2-38 in his four overs. Speaking after the game, he shared his thoughts on Suryakumar's captaincy and commented, as quoted as saying by PTI:
"I played in the last Australia series with Surya bhai (as captain). I know that he is a bowlers' captain. He gives you free hand (in a way) that you decide first. Whenever you get hit, he comes and says that it was a good ball. He keeps giving you inputs. As a player, there is a good bond with him."
The 30-year-old added that Suryakumar does not get flustered even when the bowlers are going for runs and keeps giving suggestions on how a wicket can be claimed. Speaking about the first T20I, the all-rounder said:
"In the first three overs when we were going for runs, he was telling me that we can do this or do that and how we can take a wicket. There is no problem if a four or six goes in it. As a bowler, you get confidence from that if the captain is backing you and telling you that you can do this," Axar said.
Chasing 214, Sri Lanka were well placed at 140-1 after 14 overs. However, Axar dismissed Pathum Nissanka (79) and Kusal Perera (20) in the same over to turn the match in India's favor.
"You also have to keep changing batting order as per bowling options" - Axar Patel
In the first T20I on Saturday, skipper Suryakumar came into bat at No. 3 and smacked a game-defining 58 off 26 balls. On the other hand, keeper-batter Rishabh Pant batted at No. 4 and contributed 49 off 33 deliveries. Pant, however, had batter at No. 3 during the T20 World Cup.
Asked about the shuffle in batting order, Axar said they are flexible and open to changing positions looking at the bowling options.
"Our team has four lefties and four righties. If there is a left-right combination, it becomes very hard for the bowlers to maintain the line and lengths consistently especially with rotations with singles. Now if there are four lefties, how can you use them?" the all-rounder commented.
"You also have to keep changing the batting order as per the bowling options that the opposition has got," Axar concluded.
The second T20I of the three-match series between India and Sri Lanka will be played in Pallekele on Sunday, July 28.