The cricket world was surprised when only two journalists turned up for India captain Suryakumar Yadav’s press conference ahead of the five-match T20I series against Australia.
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The series starts with matches in Visakhapatnam, Thiruvananthapuram and Guwahati in late November before the final two matches in early December.
Right-handed batter Suryakumar Yadav is leading the side as regular captain Hardik Pandya has been ruled out due to an ankle injury. However, he would have never dreamt in a million years what kind of lukewarm reception he would get as captain.
His pre-match press conference was covered by just two journalists. It marked a significant drop from the 200-plus media presence during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.
🗣️ My message to the players is very clear – just be fearless and do whatever it takes to help the team 👌👌#TeamIndia Captain @surya_14kumar ahead of the 1st T20I against Australia.@IDFCFIRSTBank | #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/jmjqqdcZBi
— BCCI (@BCCI) November 22, 2023
It is pertinent to mention that Suryakumar Yadav and Shreyas Iyer are among four players backing up from the World Cup squad along with wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan and seamer Prasidh Krishna.
Opener Ruturaj Gaikwad will act as vice-captain for the first three matches in the series before top-order batter Shreyas Iyer takes over for the last two games in Raipur and Bengaluru.
Left-arm spinner Axar Patel, who missed the Asia Cup and World Cup with a quadriceps strain, has been given a chance to make his return to international cricket.
