India’s T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav has backed his team to do better than last time in the upcoming T20I series against Australia. India last played T20Is Down Under in the 2022 T20 World Cup, when they made it to the semifinal of the showpiece event but suffered a 10-wicket loss against England.
SKY said his team has the experience of playing on Australian pitches, and there haven’t been any different preparations for the series. India has played an attacking brand of cricket in the shortest format of the game and they would want to carry on the good show.
“I feel we will do better than the last time. Teams have gone there for different formats but I think we haven’t gone for a T20 series after 2022. We do play on almost similar type of pitches in India as well. There are many venues there and we keep playing regularly. There are no different preparations as such,” SKY said in an exclusive conversation with journalist Vimal Kumar.
Yadav is looking forward to the T20I series against Australia, and he would look to deliver as a leader.
“I never thought I would go to any country as a leader. I thought I want to play for India, do well, win championships, this was my goal. But now this is a new opportunity, another responsibility to do well. Australia is always a different challenge. We have gone and played once in 2022. I think it will be a good challenge and good fun,” he added.
Meanwhile, SKY also recalled his fine knock against South Africa in the 2022 T20 World Cup. India were tottering at 49-5 but Yadav played an impressive knock of 68 runs off just 40 balls to help India post 133-9 on the board.
“It was a great challenge. We were 35 or 40 for five. That season my batting was on a different level. My confidence was on a different level, it is now too, but that was something different. I had scored runs before as well. I like bouncy pitches a lot and you can hit your shots there. I was excited and we had prepared as well.”
The first T20I between India and Australia will be played at Canberra on Wednesday.
