"He knows how I work, what my mindset is": Suryakumar Yadav

Ahead of the first T20I match against Sri Lanka Team Indias captain Suryakumar Yadav opened up on his bond with head coach Gautam Gambhir They both earlier played for the same franchise Kolkata Knight Riders in IPLThe Men in Blue will lock horns with the island nation for three T20Is and the same number of ODIs Shubman Gill who led the side in the Zimbabwe series is appointed as vicecaptain of the Indian team in both the formatsThe series will also mark Gautam Gambhirs first task as Team Indias head coachIn a video posted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India BCCI Suryakumar spoke about playing with KKR under Gambhirs captaincy back in 2014 and how their relationship has gotten strong over the years SLvIND surya_14kumar pictwittercomKmWz84jZnPmdash BCCI BCCI July 26 2024This relationship with Gambhir is very special because when I went in IPL 2014 I played under him for KKR It was special because I got the opportunity to play for that franchise My relationship is still strong with him But he knows how I work what my mindset is when I come to practice with him and how he tries to work as a coach it is all about that lovely relationship we have and very excited to see how it goes forward said SuryakumarAlso ReadWe enjoy batting with each other Shubman Gill on batting with JaiswalEarlier in the IPL Suryakumar Yadav featured in 54 matches for KKR The swashbuckler smashed 608 runs in 41 innings with an average of 2252 and a strike rate of above 131Gambhir was one of Suryakumars biggest early support systems and it was evident in the fact that the batter was once even the vicecaptain of KKRLeading the side in the Sri Lankan series Suryakumar Yadav said he always enjoys being a leader on the field and has learnt a lot of things from other captains under whom he has playedIt is a good feeling and a great responsibility also he addedTalking about one big lesson this sport has given him Suryakumar Yadav said that it has taught him to be humble and add a sense of balance to his lifeI think the most important thing I have learnt from this sport is how humble you are after achieving something or even after when you are not doing well That is one thing that I have learned When you do something on the ground you have to leave it on the ground and when you go off the field that is it This is not your life It is just part of your life So you cannot be When you are doing well you stay on the top and when youre not doing well you are underground That is one thing which I feel you should not do as a sportsman he addedSuryakumar Yadav led India in seven T20Is last year during the home T20I series against Australia and an away series against South Africa winning five matches and losing twoThe three ODIs will be held on August 2 August 4 and August 7Both teams will be taking to the field with new head coaches While legendary allrounder Sanath Jayasuriya has been named as the interim head coach for Lankan Lions this will also be the first assignment for former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir as the head coach succeeding the T20 World Cupwinning coach Rahul DravidIndias last tour of Sri Lanka for a bilateral whiteball series came back in July 2021 with Dravid coaching the Shikhar Dhawanled side India won the ODI series 21 while Sri Lanka secured the T20I series by the same marginT20I Squad for Sri Lanka series Suryakumar Yadav c Shubman Gill vc Yashasvi Jaiswal Rinku Singh Riyan Parag Rishabh Pant wk Sanju Samson wk Hardik Pandya Shivam Dube Axar Patel Washington Sundar Ravi Bishnoi Arshdeep Singh Khaleel Ahmed Mohammed SirajODI Squad for Sri Lanka series Rohit Sharma c Shubman Gill vc Virat Kohli KL Rahul WK Rishabh Pant wk Shreyas Iyer Shivam Dube Kuldeep Yadav Mohd Siraj Washington Sundar Arshdeep Singh Riyan Parag Axar Patel Khaleel Ahmed Harshit RanaWith ANI Inputs