SL vs IND 2024: I don’t want to be the captain, I want to be a leader – Suryakumar Yadav after series win

India’s T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav said he doesn’t want to be the captain but a leader. Yadav led India to a comprehensive 3-0 T20I series win against Sri Lanka. The visitors won the third T20I against the hosts in a Super Over after both teams scored 137 runs.

India was able to snatch a win from the jaws of defeat as Sri Lanka were 108-1 after 15 overs, while chasing 138. The home team needed 30 runs in the last five overs with nine wickets in hand but they lost seven wickets for only 29 runs to veer off the track.

Yadav led from the front and decided to bowl the final over when Sri Lanka needed six runs. The off-spinner, who was bowling for the first time in T20Is, conceded only five runs and the match went into Super Over, which India won after Washington Sundar conceded only two runs and bagged two wickets. 

Yadav was awarded Player of the Series for scoring 92 runs in three matches at an average of 30.67 and a strike rate of 195.74, which was the best for any batter who scored more than 10 runs in the series.

SKY was delighted with the character his players showed when they had their backs against the wall.

Suryakumar Yadav said in the post-match presentation, “More than the last over, I feel when we were around 30/4 and 48/5, how the boys showed character in the middle and took the game away from them … I felt 140 was a par score on that track. When we were going in during fielding session I told them, ‘I have seen such kind of games. If we put our heart in for one and a half hours, we can pull it off.’ If you are enjoying hitting 200-220s and winning games, you should enjoy 30/4 and 70/5 as well because that creates balance in your life and that’s how you move on and just be humble.”

He added, “The amount of skill they have, self-confidence what they bring into the table, it makes my job very easy. The positivity they have on the ground and in the dressing room, the care for each other what they show is unbelievable. After the last game, I said a few boys are going to rest and they were the first ones to tell me, ‘Okay we will rest and you can give opportunities to others.’ That shows the character of the team and how happy they are for others’ performance as well. They have made my job easy. When I go to bat, I have little pressure, I just enjoy to express myself. I said before the series, I don’t want to be the captain, I want to be a leader.”

India will next take on Sri Lanka in a three-match ODI series, starting Friday in Colombo.