"Our bond has always been special" - SKY on his relationship with Gambhir

Suryakumar Yadav became a household name at Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League, but before all that fame, the right-handed batter played four seasons for Kolkata Knight Riders. When KKR won the title in 2014 under Gautam Gambhir’s captaincy, SKY was part of the squad, hitting 164 runs @ 32.8 and a strike rate of 140.2.

Gambhir is now India’s head coach, while SKY has been appointed as the new T20I captain. SKY largely played as a finisher for KKR, and when asked about Gambhir not utilising his full potential back at the time, the 33-year-old batter said: “To abhi kar lenge potential use poora (then we'll use the full potential now).

"Our bond has always been special. It's been 10 years now since 2014. In 2018, we both went to different franchises but we kept in touch, talking regularly about the game. When we played for different teams, we would discuss the game, of how we could have done better. The learning has been going on even when we were not together. This bond is special. 

“It's been 2-3 days and we have been talking. We haven't spoken much but he understands me from my body language now. I understand from his body language what he wants to tell me. Half the times he understands even when I don't say anything. This bond is special between a coach and a captain. I'm very excited for the journey ahead, let's see what happens,” said SKY before the first T20I against Sri Lanka on July 27 (Saturday).

Suryakumar was picked as India’s T20I captain ahead of Hardik Pandya who served as Rohit Sharma’s deputy in the 2024 T20 World Cup in the USA and the West Indies. Pandya was India’s vice-captain in T20 cricket for a while, following his successful stint as Gujarat Titans’ skipper at the Indian Premier League for two seasons. Besides playing as captain over the last three years in IPL, he also led India in three ODIs and 16 T20Is.

Also read - The sunrise: Timeline of Suryakumar’s climb to the Indian captaincy ladder

Meanwhile, SKY has led India in seven T20Is. Surya captained India to a 4-1 win over Australia right after the 50-over World Cup last year. The opportunity came after Pandya injured his ankle midway through the World Cup and was out until the start of IPL 2024. After Australia, Surya led India in a three-match T20I series in South Africa, which was drawn 1-1. 

Talking about Pandya’s presence in the T20I set-up, SKY said: "Hardik's role has always remained the same, and even now it'll be the same. He is an important player for the team. Hopefully he'll continue to perform for the team the way he performed during the World Cup. 

“The environment in the dressing room has been great. The brand of cricket that we played in the last T20 World Cup, we want to continue playing that way. Three players have retired. It will be difficult to fill their shoes. But they have practised so much and played so much, they have done well in franchise cricket as well as for India.”

SKY also spoke about Riyan Parag getting picked in the T20I and ODI squads. The spin-bowling all-rounder was the target of social media trolls for a long time before finally responding with the bat in the last IPL season. Parag amassed 573 runs in 14 innings at an average of more than 52 and finished the tournament as the third-highest run-scorer.

"Trolling happens everywhere, not just in cricket, it happens in every sport. How a sportsman deals with it is important. I rate him very highly. I had said this before the IPL as well, when I had met him at NCA when both of us had gone there for rehab, I had told him that there is an 'X-Factor' in him. He just needs to sideline all the distractions and focus on this (his cricket). 

“He realised that in the IPL, he was quite a different player in the last 3-4 years. I'm really happy for him. He has been performing well in domestic cricket as well for the last two years. Domestic cricket sets a good base, it's a good platform. It helps you understand how to score runs later in your career, in international cricket. It helps in that way. But I'm really happy that he's here with the team."

India will be without Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja who announced their retirement from the format after winning the 2024 T20WC. “It will be difficult to fill the shoes, but obviously people have practiced so much, new players have come, they are already doing well when they play franchise cricket,” said SKY.

Talking about captaincy, SKY said: "Every player's dream is to represent India, to do good for India. So that was my first dream. When it is going well, then gradually you think how you can win India in a big tournament, you can win matches.

"Then another goal comes that if you ever become the captain of India, then it remains in your dream that if you become the captain, then how will you win India after playing against good teams. So this is also another dream that has come true. And it feels good."

If you’ve not downloaded the Cricket.com app yet, you’re missing out — big time. Play Fantasy on Cricket.com NOW! Download the App here.