'I Aim To Be A Leader, Not Just A Captain': Suryakumar Yadav After Sri Lanka Triumph

India's captain, Suryakumar Yadav, made a bold statement after leading the team in the Sri Lanka T20I series. The newly appointed T20 captain demonstrated his leadership skills as India secured a 3-0 series win over Sri Lanka.

In the final match, India achieved a remarkable victory from a difficult position. With Sri Lanka needing 23 runs in the last four overs, India managed to take the game to a Super Over. Suryakumar Yadav bowled the crucial 20th over, taking two wickets to force the Super Over.

Yadav's decision to bowl Washington Sundar in the Super Over proved successful as Sri Lanka was restricted to just 2 runs. Suryakumar then came on to score the winning runs for India.

After the impressive result, Suryakumar praised the team's resilience during tough situations. He mentioned that low-scoring matches are more enjoyable as they bring balance to a cricketer's life. "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," he said.

"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," added Suryakumar.

Team Spirit and Leadership

Suryakumar also highlighted the team spirit where some regular players chose to sit out to give opportunities to others. India made four changes in their side for Tuesday's match. The captain expressed his desire not just to be a captain but a leader of the team.

"They have made my job easy. When I go into bat, I have little pressure, I just enjoy expressing myself. I said before the series, I don't want to be the captain; I want to be a leader," concluded Suryakumar.

Looking ahead, India will participate in a three-match ODI series starting August 2. Rohit Sharma will return to lead the team in this format, with Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, and KL Rahul included in the squad.