Indian all-rounder Axar Patel said that the newly-appointed T20I skipper, Suryakumar Yadav, is a ‘bowler’s captain’ and a “happy-go-lucky” person.
India has named Suryakumar Yadav as the captain of their men’s T20I team for the tour of Sri Lanka, with Shubman Gill as the vice-captain of the T20I and ODI sides.
The white-ball tour to Sri Lanka will start from July 27 and will consist of three T20Is and ODIs.
It will be India’s first international assignment under new coach Gautam Gambhir, who was appointed as the head coach earlier in July.
Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, Axar said that he has spent a lot of time with Suryakumar and he keeps the atmosphere lively.
‘I have spent a lot of time with Suryakumar. Surya Bhai is a happy-go-lucky guy. He keeps the atmosphere lively and loves doing mimicry and such fun stuff. I know he will keep the atmosphere cool. I recently played a five-game T20I series (against Australia) when he was the captain. I know he is a bowler’s captain,’ said Axar.
He gives the bowlers the fields they ask for. And it was like that with me, too. I do not think there will be a lot of change. We will get to know now, playing under his captaincy, about his mindset. You cannot judge someone’s captaincy by one tour. When we play more, we will get to know more of his captaincy style.’
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Axar said that there will also be meetings with newly-appointed head coach Gautam Gambhir which will help him get some role clarity.
On his role as a floater while batting, through which he is utilised at a variety of batting positions and situations, Axar said that he takes this role as a positive since the captain and coach trust him to play in tough situations. He also noted that he has been used the same way by his Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, the Delhi Capitals (DC).
‘When the team needs someone to stand up, they are banking on me to deliver. That means they have seen something in me. When the team trusts you to deliver in such crunch situations, you start trusting yourself even more automatically. And once you deliver in one or two matches, it gives your confidence a different sort of boost altogether.’
‘It is not as if this has happened just once or twice. I have been asked to perform this role for Delhi Capitals and other teams as well. After a point, you get used to it and it does not matter which position you are batting in. You are confident in batting in any position and you know what to do in that situation,’ he added.
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Having been with the Indian team since 2014, he has played just 14 Tests, 57 ODIs and 60 T20Is, with more senior all-rounders like Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja getting preference. However, over these last few years, Axar has featured more on the team.
The all-rounder is not looking too far ahead, as he is focused on short-term goals based on the roles he is expected to play.
‘It should not happen that I am asked to perform some role and my goals do not align with it,” he says. “I do not believe in long-term planning. I just look at the present, what’s in front of me and just the short-term goals is what I look at’ he concluded.
T20I Squad for Sri Lanka series: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Riyan Parag, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Mohammed Siraj.
ODI Squad for Sri Lanka series: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Riyan Parag, Axar Patel, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshit Rana
