India’s new T20I era of Gautam Gambhir and Suryakumar Yadav as the coach-captain duo began with a convincing 43-run win for the visitors against Sri Lanka in the first T20I of the three-match series in Pallekele on Saturday.
Under the leadership of Surya, who scored a blistering 58 off just 26 deliveries, India’s top-order batsmen unleashed a barrage of shots to propel the team to an imposing total of 213 for 7 after the Sri Lankan skipper, Charith Asalanka, won the toss and elected to field first.The opening pair of Jaiswal, who contributed 40 off 21 balls, and Shubman Gill, who smashed 34 off 16 deliveries, provided India with a commanding start, putting on 74 runs before both were dismissed on consecutive delivieries.
Surya and Rishabh Pant, who scored a brisk 49 off 33 balls, then took center stage, entertaining the spectators with a flurry of strokes in their 76-run partnership. Their efforts were sufficient to guide India past the 200-run mark, despite a middle-order failure.
Talking about India’s batting in a video posted by BCCI on Sunday, Surya said: “According to the situation, I set the tempo from the batting point of view. There is so much skill in this batting line-up that I know ke agar apna skill nahi chala, toh baaki log sambhal lenge (if my skill doesn’t work, others will step up to handle the situation).”
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About his role as T20I skipper, Surya said he always wants to lead by example.
“I don’t want to be a captain, I want to be leader. Bas yahi hai ke agar dava se zyada dua chalti rahe, toh time aise hi chalta rahega (good times will extend if prayers continue to work),” he added.
India’s bowling effort was led by Riyan Parag (3 for 5), Arshdeep Singh (2 for 24) and Axar Patel (2 for 38), with Parag taking three wickets in the eight balls he delivered with his leg-spin. It helped India bowl Sri Lanka out for 170.
Parag, who is a batting allrounder, said coach Gambhir had worked with him in the nets on how and where to bowl in different situations.
“We were communicating a lot in the nets, where to bowl, how to bowl. We had prepared for such situations, even with Gautam (Gambhir) sir, that if I am bowling in the 16th-17th over and the wicket is turning, where to bowl. The boys made it easy for me. I had to just bowl stump to stump and the ball was turning as well, said Parag, who also featured in the video.
Surya added that Parag has the ‘X’ factor.
“Ye Riyan Parag special hi ho sakta hai because I have seen him before, even bowling in the IPL, in the nets. I even said at the press conference, he has the ‘X’ factor,” said the skipper.





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