India take on England in the second semifinal of the T20 World Cup 2022 in Adelaide on Thursday, November 9, and ahead of the crunch tie, skipper Rohit Sharma was all praise for in-form batter Suryakumar Yadav.
Surya has been in great nick heading into the knockouts of the marquee event. He scored only 42 runs in four matches of the T20 World Cup 2021, but this time around, he is the team's second-highest run-getter, just behind Virat Kohli. In the five matches of the Super 12, Suryakumar has scored 225 runs.
“That’s because he doesn’t carry any baggage. And by baggage, I don’t mean suitcases - those he carries a lot because he loves his shopping. I meant he doesn’t take much pressure on himself and that’s his personality in general,” the Team India skipper quipped during the pre-match press conference.
Suryakumar come out at a time when India were struggling against Zimbabwe and then sent the ball flying in every direction of the pitch to score a 25-ball 61 and help India to an above-par score of 186 runs. Rohit reiterated the fact that sky is the limit for SKY, whose positive energy rubs off his teammates, especially when they are batting.
"He likes to go out and express himself. That is why he was there in the last World Cup. Sky is the limit for him. He has taken pressure from others. Suryakumar has it in him to take responsibility. He has shown a lot of maturity and it rubs off on other players batting with him. He knows and understands his game. He knows what bowlers are doing. As he told me that he doesn’t like smaller grounds. He likes to play on the bigger ground because he can see the gap in the bigger ground.”
Speaking about his own injury concerns, Rohit was confident about taking the pitch against England. Ahead of the crucial tie, the skipper limped off the training pitch on Tuesday, raising concerns about his fitness, but returned to continue the training.
"I was hit yesterday but it seems to be fine now. There was a little bruise but it is absolutely fine now," Rohit said.
