Skip to playerSkip to main content
  • 1 day ago
T20 World Cup 2026 India vs USA: Speaking on the eve of India's opening game in Mumbai, captain Suryakumar Yadav spoke about the pressure of expectations, the weight of history and how India are trying to stay in the moment and get the job done. India are bidding to become the first team to defend the title and win the trophy as many as three times.

Category

🗞
News
Transcript
00:01Surya, any update on Harshit Rana? Has he been ruled out or is he still there?
00:07He hasn't been ruled out yet but after the warm-up game he wasn't looking good.
00:11Physios are assessing but I think he knows what he's going to do today.
00:15But he doesn't look good. It's not that great.
00:21In their team, there are 3-4 players from Bombay. You know.
00:25He's saying that the green card vs. Aadhar card match is running.
00:31Yes, he's running.
00:35Surya.
00:37Surya, but you have a life circle as well as complete.
00:41Because from Bombay, you are going to get out of this mud.
00:45And you are going to lead to this world.
00:48What do you see all these things?
00:50That's right.
00:51You are going to go to a dollar.
00:53But I'm looking for a good view.
00:57It's good that people are getting the opportunity.
00:59They are playing from other countries.
01:01But it's a good opportunity for them.
01:03I have played a lot of cricket with them.
01:05But now we are all playing in cricket.
01:10We are playing cricket.
01:12I have played at least in Bombay.
01:14I know how it works here.
01:15We will start the tournament tomorrow.
01:19After that, we will catch up slowly.
01:22How do you see the captain?
01:24The captain is good.
01:26I always remind you.
01:28The captain is a little overrated.
01:31The captain is a little overrated.
01:32The captain is a little overrated.
01:34The captain is a little overrated.
01:36The captain is a little overrated feeling.
01:38The captain is a little overrated.
01:39The captain is a little overrated.
01:40The captain is a little overrated.
01:41But it's good.
01:42It's a good responsibility.
01:43It's a good lead to the team.
01:44The captain is a good lead to the home soil.
01:45And starting the campaign from Van Kede.
01:48I am very excited.
01:50And it's a good responsibility too.
01:51I am very excited.
01:52Absolutely.
01:53As I said about the team,
01:58I should ask whether he played at the team
01:59in New Zealand against his batting in the warm-up.
02:03What will happen then after the team?
02:05You were so happy to see the match after the half century,
02:07Then the captain and the captain and captain,
02:10the captain of what he had come up with.
02:12How will we expect to see him at the World Cup in opening?
02:15Definitely, as he played cricket in the last 5-5 T20.
02:19He was an international game, so he showed so much.
02:22But if he was playing domestic cricket,
02:25the T20 trophy,
02:28he also batted the same thing.
02:30And he carried the same thing here.
02:32He got an opportunity for 3 numbers.
02:34And he opened it in the warm-up game.
02:36So I hope that he batted the same thing.
02:39Whatever position he will play.
02:41He won't play the same thing.
02:43But the opportunity that he will do batting.
02:48How big of a rule-out will he be?
02:52Because they are all-rounders.
02:53We don't know the fitness status of Washington.
02:55So all-rounders are important players for this team.
02:59Don't worry, there are 11 players for us today.
03:02But the big blow is obviously.
03:06Because if you make a squad for 15,
03:08you make a lot of combinations.
03:11So that's what we thought about it.
03:14And if he is not available for us going forward,
03:16then we will set the other combinations
03:18and how we can do it.
03:20But we have enough combinations.
03:23We have enough combinations for all teams against
03:25which we can make in this tournament.
03:27But if we miss him, we will definitely miss him.
03:30Surya, all the best for the tournament.
03:35And another question of Harshit with a different undertone.
03:39If eventually he is ruled out, that would be unfortunate.
03:43But who are the replacement options?
03:45We will see right now.
03:47Who are the fast bowlers who have done really well for the last one or two years?
03:53And who is the best bowlers who can batting?
03:56But there is no hard and fast rule that can batting.
03:59Because if you expect someone to beat someone in 9 or 10,
04:02and you expect someone to beat someone in 9 or 10,
04:04then what will he say?
04:06But we will see.
04:08We will have a few options.
04:11But we will pick the best one.
04:13Surya, there is a tournament in one month.
04:16And we have seen surprises in this format before.
04:19So how important is tomorrow's game going to be?
04:22Because it is the first match.
04:24I think all the games we will play today.
04:27Like from the warm-up game.
04:29Warm-up game was also important for us to set the tone for the World Cup.
04:32And in any team against the World Cup,
04:35I think all the games are important.
04:37You cannot lightly take any team.
04:39In this format, you just require two good batters on a given day.
04:43Or one or two good bowlers to make a difference.
04:46So you have to be switched on all the time.
04:48In every game.
04:50And we have seen it before.
04:52During the T20 World Cups.
04:54Or any tournaments.
04:56That yes, teams have troubled a lot of teams.
05:00So we will have to bring our A-game.
05:01Set the tone from tomorrow.
05:03Surya, not having a strong team.
05:08In the initial rounds.
05:10Maybe except Pakistan.
05:12Is it an advantage or a disadvantage?
05:14How do you see that?
05:15Sir, I do not see any weak teams in the competition.
05:18All twenty teams are very much capable of playing some good cricket in this format.
05:25As I said, it is a format where you can see a good player doing well on any given day.
05:31That requires one or two batters to make a difference.
05:34Or one or two bowlers to have a good twenty-four balls on that given day.
05:38So we will have to play the same way as we have been playing against all the teams.
05:42So there is no weak or tough teams in the competition.
05:46I think all are the same.
05:48Surya, every tournament that India comes into, especially World Cups, they come in with a lot of expectations.
05:55But this time the expectations are a lot more higher because of the performance of the team in the last 19 months.
06:00Having lost just five or six matches.
06:02So how are you looking forward to handling that expectation and playing at home as well?
06:06See, I think when you are playing at home, there is always an added pressure.
06:12I am not running away from the fact.
06:14To be honest, there will be nerves, there will be pressure.
06:17But if you see the positive side of it, there will be a lot of cheer around.
06:22You are playing at home soil.
06:24So you know there are people backing you.
06:27Talking about expectations, yes, definitely the way we have played in the last one or two years.
06:32People must be expecting the same way.
06:35And we will try giving them more reasons to stay on top, to play the same brand of cricket.
06:41There are so many people coming to watch in the stadiums.
06:43I have told my boys the same thing.
06:45There are 30-35 thousand people coming.
06:47So many people watching at home.
06:49Let's give them a good time.
06:50Let's give them entertainment.
06:52Surya, as an individual who is also the leader of this camp,
06:57how do you see this competition where India is expected to kind of go all the way and win the trophy?
07:01And that will again be a third title win which no other team has done in the past.
07:05How do you look at this possibility as a leader?
07:08See, there is no double thought that we have been playing good cricket.
07:13But at the same time, you have to be in present as well.
07:17Yes, you are playing at home.
07:19You are expected to win the tournament.
07:21The way you have been playing your cricket.
07:23No one has defended the title.
07:25No one has won on the home soil.
07:27Yes, everything runs in everyone's mind.
07:29But at the same time, you have to be in the present as well.
07:32You have to see what you want to do on the given day.
07:35How do you want to play cricket?
07:37That is, I think, very important.
07:39And just stay in the present.
07:41Have your feet where you are.
07:44Stay grounded.
07:45Because when you are playing at home, you want to be more excited.
07:47You want to give people more than they expect.
07:50In that time, you might make a mistake.
07:52But I think staying in present will be the key in this World Cup.
07:57Even though we go till the end, but I think every game we play,
08:01we will have to be very relaxed and think about the game what we are playing.
08:05Surya, at the time of the selection, you did admit that left-hand and right-hand combination
08:11is kind of overrated.
08:12But in a top eight, that could possibly have six left-handers.
08:16Does that become a different headache to manage for the management?
08:21How do you handle it?
08:22Now, you say it's a good headache.
08:27I think it's a good headache.
08:29And I do feel it is an overrated conversation.
08:34Because at this stage, when you have played so much cricket against the left-hand spinners,
08:39off-spinners, whatever it is, you have played enough cricket, you practice a lot.
08:42So, on a given day, irrespective of a spinner or a fast bowler is bullying two left-handers
08:47or two right-handers, I think your job is to do what you do the best for the team.
08:53And that's what is happening.
08:55Surya, India have generally tried to focus on their own strengths more than look at the opposition.
09:04But teams like US, Namibia, Netherlands, you have not played a lot against them.
09:07So, how much work goes into figuring out what to expect from those sides?
09:13See, we do see a lot of videos.
09:16Yes, we don't play them often.
09:17But at the same time, we have a lot of preparations going on when we have bowlers meeting, batters meeting.
09:22We see the bowlers.
09:24We play similar kind of fast bowlers when we are practicing in the nets as well.
09:27So, yes, there are a lot of preparations behind it.
09:30Though we have a disadvantage that we don't get to play these nations.
09:33But definitely, you have to be prepared.
09:36At this level, there is no excuse.
09:38Hi, Surya.
09:39Just wanted to know, like, how is the confidence level in the team that you have won recently
09:434-1 against New Zealand, which was very good, and now against the practice match against
09:48South Africa.
09:49How is the atmosphere in the dressing room?
09:51See, the atmosphere is good.
09:53The mood in the camp is really nice, very positive.
09:57Most important is that people are enjoying what's happening around as a group.
10:02So, that's what I want from them.
10:03Because I have shared a few 2024, T20 World Cup experience and instances with them.
10:10So, that taste, they should feel that taste.
10:14And the mood in the camp is very happy, very relaxed, very excited for the World Cup.
10:18I told them there is very less people who get an opportunity to represent India.
10:23That too on the home soil.
10:24So, it's a great opportunity.
10:26So, just enjoy it and cherish it.
10:28All the best to you.
10:30Surya.
10:31Yes, sir.
10:32Let's talk some cricket.
10:34I just wanted to ask you about slow ball and especially someone like Sam Karan's moon ball.
10:40If a left-arm fast baller puts slow ball, and especially a guy like Karan who goes and
10:46balls from 80kph to 40kph or something.
10:50As a right-hander batter or just as a batter, what is the challenge?
10:55I think it's all about your skill.
10:58It's all about how you want to practice those deliveries.
11:03We've been trying to do that.
11:05Yes, there are a lot of teams, a lot of batters who enjoy playing against pace.
11:10But at the same time, this comes with the skill.
11:13If the left-arm fast baller or any right-arm fast baller has a skill of bowling nice slower
11:20deliveries, it all comes with practice.
11:22You have to just practice in the nets and then be prepared for that in the game.
11:26Hi Surya.
11:27We've always seen you smile even if things are not going your way.
11:32Be it your runs, be it a likely rule out of Harshit.
11:36Have you always been like this?
11:38Is this something you worked on?
11:40There's already enough pressure from outside.
11:43Oh, I didn't say that.
11:45See, there's already so much going on on the ground when we are off the field.
11:50So I think when we are on the field, we just want to be relaxed because I feel the preparations,
11:57what we do during practice sessions when we are in the room, I think that sets the tone
12:02when you come on the ground.
12:03As I've always said, it comes on autopilot when you come on the ground.
12:06You have to let your emotions flow and take the best call what the team needs on that given day.
12:11So at the same time, and you know this format is actually very harsh for the bowlers,
12:16sometimes to the batters as well.
12:18But you have to be relaxed, give them company at that time, make them relaxed, take their breaths back
12:25and just enjoy it.
12:26You are there as a group for 75-80 minutes on the ground when you are fielding.
12:30So I think that's the time we have fun on the ground and then enjoy it.
12:34Hi Surya.
12:36Apart from the pressure and the leadership role and all these things, as an individual also,
12:42is this World Cup a little extra special for you because it's a home World Cup.
12:46The first match is your home ground.
12:48You have been given this legacy by your senior Rohit of defending the title especially at home.
12:53So does it add an extra factor here?
12:56See, as I said, playing at home soil is always excitement.
13:02I felt that when we played the ODI World Cup in 2023.
13:06Crowd coming in numbers, people having chat around when you are travelling on the airport.
13:10So it's a good thing.
13:12It gives you motivation all the time.
13:14But yeah, at the same time, it brings a lot of responsibility also that you are getting to lead such a wonderful side,
13:21that too in India at home soil starting at Vankhede.
13:24So boys are very excited to take the field tomorrow.
13:28And I'm sure there will be a lot of excitement.
13:30Last one.
13:31Surya, you said that this format is very harsh for the ballers.
13:36You have the luxury that you have two spinners in India.
13:39Varun, Chakravarti and Kuldeep are both of you.
13:41Will it be an awkward question or a good headache for you?
13:44Or is it clear that these are both spinners and spinners will play in each match?
13:49Or how do you see the conditions in each match?
13:52Look, this is an added advantage that you have so many bowlers available.
13:56But at the same time, you have to see the combination of the team against you.
14:01If there is a need that we can play two spinners, two wrist spinners,
14:05then we will definitely play.
14:07But yes, it's always good to have options like Varun Chakravarti and Kuldeepiado,
14:12two best spinners in the world.
14:14And it is a very good headache.
14:16Thank you, gentlemen.
14:18Have a good day.
14:19Hello, ladies.
14:20Have a great talk.
14:21Can you help the ladies and gentlemen?
14:23Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much.
14:26Aaj aap chupke bethe ho legini.
14:29Aaj aap chupke bethe ho legini.
Comments

Recommended