Suryakumar Yadav steps into captaincy mode after World Cup disappointment
It's only three days since the final of the 2023 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, but a lot has happened already for Suryakumar Yadav, with the 33-year-old named as captain for the three T20Is against Australia at home.
Unlike his teammates from the tournament, Suryakumar will have to keep the disappointment from the final aside, lead a new-look team packed with youngsters and aim to motivate and guide them.
"It is difficult. It is difficult, it will take time," Suryakumar said in the press conference ahead of the series.
"It can't be that you get up next morning and you forget everything that happened. It was a long tournament and obviously we would have loved to win.
"But then as you say, we get up in the morning, there is always sunrise again, light at the end of the tunnel. You have to forget it, move on. It is a fresh team, new boys, great energy. So we are really looking forward to this T20 series."
The squad is made up of stars who bagged the Gold medal at the Asian Games and the captain from the tournament, Ruturaj Gaikwad, will act as deputy to Suryakumar in the three-match series against Australia.
Star batter Suryakumar Yadav is out to make an impact in the 50-over format for India at the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023
Suryakumar is familiar with a lot of the youngsters in the team thanks to the Indian Premier League, and is pretty clear about the approach he wants the team to take.
"The first thing I wanted to say was, let's be very selfless when you go onto the field because I am a guy who doesn't think too much about the personal milestone instead of team's goal.
"And I have always told them that you have to keep the team first and then whatever comes after that, you can take your call. And I have played with them a lot of times during IPL and a few India games as well. So they know how I function.
"A lot of these youngsters played in the Ireland T20s, they went to the Asian Games, they did well in both those formats."
Asked about how he is guiding the new group of players, Suryakumar stressed that he wanted fearless cricket from the bunch of youngsters.
"Very clear, just be fearless and do whatever it takes to help the team. And they have been doing that in the IPL, they have played a lot of domestic cricket as well recently.
"So they are in good nick, which I heard from our support staff. And I have told them only one thing, just enjoy your time in the middle, do the same thing, don't do anything different at the end of the day, just a game of cricket."