Last Updated:
Suryakumar Yadav has taken a lot of inspiration from Rohit Sharma as a leader which he applies in his role as T20I captain, but with his own twist.
India’s Suryakumar Yadav and Rohit Sharma (AP)
India’s current T20I skipper, Suryakumar Yadav, revealed some of the biggest lessons he learned under Rohit Sharma. Yadav revealed that he has learned a lot after spending time with Rohit in both the national team and the IPL with the Mumbai Indians.
Following India’s T20 World Cup 2024 victory in Barbados, Yadav has now taken over the reins. He has adopted much of what he has seen from Rohit but made his own twists along the way.
“Winning and losing is part and parcel of sports. Everyone has done hard work. Sometimes you do well and sometimes you don’t,” the Indian T20I skipper said when asked about India’s whitewash at the hands of New Zealand.
“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 sportsman should have,” Surya added.
He went in-depth to share many of Rohit Sharma’s qualities that make him a great leader from his perspective on how Rohit has been with his teammates.
“A leader decides how his team plays a particular format. 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,” he shared.
“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 laughed.
Rohit has been known to hang out with the players, especially the younger groups to help make them feel at ease, but also get an understanding of what they are like as well. Surya follows a similar path as well when talking about his leadership approach.
“From a leader, you expect how much time one spends with his guys to build that comfort level. I also try that with my boys. Even when I am not playing, I try to hang out with players, have a meal with them, little things done off the field reflect on the on-field performance,” the Indian skipper said.
Understanding the psyche of players is very important to extract the best out of them, he feels.
“You have to understand what’s happening around and what’s going on in their minds. There needs to be a comfort level as they have different types of skill sets. The freedom to express themselves is very important and I am trying to give them that.
“Whatever is on their mind, I listen carefully and I try and spend a lot of time with them to understand, who can deliver for me under pressure and in crunch situations,” he concluded.
(with PTI Inputs)
