Thiruvananthapuram: Indian pacer Prasidh Krishna has credited stand-in skipper Suryakumar Yadav for having a strong impact during his side’s excellent start to the ongoing T20I series against Australia.
Krishna picked up three valuable wickets as India registered a second consecutive triumph over Australia here on Sunday, with the hosts now holding a commanding 2-0 lead in the five-match series ahead of next year’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
While Suryakumar managed just 19 runs with the bat during India’s 44-run victory, Krishna believes the No.1 ranked T20I batter in the world is having an even greater impact while filling in for regular captain Rohit Sharma, an ICC report said.
“I think it shows in the way he (Suryakumar) bats, which is very similar in his captaincy as well,” Krishna noted.
“He trusts his players, backs all of us to do what we want to do, and he’s there right behind us to support us if there’s anything going wrong,” Krishna said.
“That’s been the name of the game, and then that’s the word around freedom go and execute your plans out there, and everyone trusts each other in the team,” he said.
With Suryakumar dismissed cheaply in the second T20I, it was left to the next brigade of India’s batters to impress, and half-centuries to Ruturaj Gaikwad (58), Yashasvi Jaiswal (53) and Ishan Kishan (52) helped the hosts post a big total of 235/4 from their allotted overs.
Ravi Bishnoi (3/32) and Krishna (3/41) made inroads with the new ball to help restrict Australia, and star all-rounder Glenn Maxwell was unable to match his heroics from the recent ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup as the Aussies fell well short in reply.
Krishna admitted it was difficult for the bowling group to adjust to the dew that descended on Greenfield Stadium late in the match, but said he picked up some valuable lessons from being part of India’s squad during the World Cup.
“Being a part of the World Cup squad was a massive learning experience for me,” Krishna said.
“That’s the biggest learning curve I’ve had since I’ve been a part of the team,” he said.
“I got to learn a lot about the way people prepare the amount of information that you can take, looking at the surface, the situation, the condition, the batsman, and all of those things,” Krishna said.
The third match of the T20I series between India and Australia is in Guwahati on Tuesday.
