'I can bat anywhere for MI': Surya

Suryakumar Yadav. Pic/PTI

Suryakumar Yadav had sacrificed his No. 3 slot for young Tilak Varma in the national side, but the Mumbai Indians' stand-in captain on Saturday dropped hints that he could bat at his familiar position, saying they have a flexible batting order. Suryakumar, India's T20 skipper, will be leading MI in the opening match as regular skipper Hardik Pandya is serving a one-match ban over-rate related offence during the previous edition.

Asked if he would again promote the flamboyant Tilak above him in the MI batting set-up, Suryakumar replied: "So you might see guys being flexible during this season, during this stint with the IPL. And everyone is flexible. Even I can bat at 3, I can bat at 5, Tilak can bat at 5. So it's that flexibility we have in our team."

He then explained that it was Tilak's hard work that made him think of elevating his batting position in the national set-up. "It's always good to have that impact at the top. So for Team India, I thought it will be better if he can bat at No. 3 and I can take the responsibility at No. 4. Because for me, batting number doesn't matter. I bat the same way, try and make that impact whenever there is an opportunity and so does he."

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