"I have learnt from Rohit that in life, balance is important": Suryakumar Yadav

India T20I skipper Suryakumar says he’s inspired by T20 World Cup-winning captain Sharma’s leadership style and wants to follow his path as four-match series against South Africa gets underway in Durban today

Suryakumar Yadav is a big fan of Rohit Sharma’s leadership philosophy that inspires him to keep his flock together by understanding his players’ psyche and find balance when the chips are down.

Surya, who took over as India’s shortest format skipper after the victorious T20 World Cup campaign, admitted that he followed “Rohit’s captaincy route” of spending a lot of time with his team off the field, which then reflects in their on-field performance. Obviously, he has “customised” it as per his leadership needs.

‘Balance is important in life’

“I have learnt from him [Rohit] that in life, balance is important, after doing well, even if you lose, your character should not change. This is one quality a sportsman should have,” Suryakumar said on the eve of the first T20I against South Africa when asked about India’s 0-3 defeat to New Zealand.

For Suryakumar, Rohit is not just a captain, but a leader too. “A leader is one who decides how his team plays a particular format,” said the world’s premier T20 batter.

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They have played together — for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy and for Mumbai Indians in the IPL — for close to a decade and Rohit’s captaincy style has grown on him. “When I am on the ground, I keep noticing him. How his body language is and how he keeps calm and how he treats his bowlers, how he speaks to everyone 
on and off the field. I know how he treats his players, what he wants from them. That route I have also taken as he has been successful. Obviously, I have put my own masala in it [his own ideas]. It’s been going smooth,” he said with a laughed.

Meanwhile, as Team India firmly embraces a transition phase, a clutch of second line stars such as Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma will be hoping for a breakaway series in the four T20Is against South Africa, starting with the first contest here on Friday. It is imperative for them to shed the tag of sidekicks and establish themselves as first-choice players in this format.

The recent home T20I series against Bangladesh was  like a precursor. Samson got the chance to open consistently against the neighbours, and made the most of it, slamming a 47-ball 111.

In the post-Rohit era in T20Is, Samson would like to further buttress his claim for a regular opening slot with a few fruitful outings against the Proteas.

Abhishek needs to shine

This is an important series for Abhishek as well. The dashing left-hander showed his impressive skills while hammering a 47-ball hundred against Zimbabwe at Harare in July, but his other six international innings have produced 0, 10, 14, 16, 15, 4. The selectors will also closely monitor how a new-look pace bowling unit — Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Vyshak Vijaykumar and Yash Dayal — fare against South Africa.

South Africa will be looking to add a touch of revenge to the series after losing to India in the T20 World Cup final in June, the last time these two sides met.

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