As he took charge as the permanent T20I captain for the first series, Suryakumar showcased his exceptional skills, earning the prestigious ‘Player of The Series’ title with two outstanding performances in the initial matches.
However, his contribution extended further when he claimed two crucial wickets with his off-spin bowling during a nail-biting Super Over victory, adding an extra layer of satisfaction to his achievements.
“Like I said before the series, I don’t want to be the captain, I want to be the leader,” Suryakumar said, as quoted by PTI, at the post-match presentation ceremony.
He expressed endless admiration for his fellow players, who demonstrated immense courage and determination while safeguarding a humble total of 137 runs.
“The amount of skill they have, self-confidence, it makes my job easy. The positivity, the care for each other is unbelievable. After the last game, I told few boys will be rested and they were ready to sit out.
“They have made my job easy. I have little pressure when I bat,” he said.
The Indian skipper said that just as people enjoy high scores of 220 or 230, they should also start appreciating low-scoring games, as it brings balance to the sport.
“More than the last over, I feel when we were around 30/4 and 48 for 5, how the boys showed character, 140 was a par score on that track. I told, if we put our heart in it, we could pull it off.”
Sri Lanka skipper Charith Asalanka couldn’t explain what went wrong with the middle-order in all three games.
“Definitely, really disappointed, especially the middle-order and lower-middle order. Very bad shot selection. The thinking was spinners were bowling and that’s why Wanindu Hasaranga came up the order and we gave him the license to hit one or two boundaries,” Asalanka said.
“I think especially we played some wrong shots and when the ball gets old, the shot selection has to be spot on. We can’t give excuses and we have to do more than this.
“I want to see good batting performance in ODIs and I think the boys will do better,” the dejected Lankan skipper added.