Before the commencement of the T20I series against South Africa, India captain Suryakumar Yadav said he’s taken the leadership style used by Rohit Sharma in his T20I captaincy career, particularly in terms of handling young players.

“I know how he (Rohit) treats the players, what he wants from them. So that route I have also taken because he’s been very successful recently. When I am on the ground, I keep noticing how his body language is, how calm he is under pressure situations, how he talks to the bowlers, how he treats everyone on the field and off the field,” said Suryakumar in the pre-series press conference.

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“Most importantly, from a leader you expect how much time he is spending with you to have that comfort. I try to replicate that. When I am not on the ground, I try and spend time with my teammates, have a meal with them, travel together.”

“These are the small things that reflect on the ground. If you want to earn your team-mate’s respect and if you want him to deliver on the ground, all these things are very important. I add a bit of my own spice, and we are going forward,” he added.

Talking of how managing the youngsters has been for him, Suryakumar remarked they come with the understanding of doing the job well for their state teams and IPL franchises, which makes his life in the leadership role easy.

“They have made my job very easy if you’ve seen the last two to three series. I have told them to keep the needs of the team in front, and whatever calls they take, we are here to back them.”

“Everyone knows what they have to do. The kind of cricket they play for their state, the franchise, is the same as they have to play here. Just the colour of the jersey changes and the emotions get heightened. But the kind of cricket they have been playing, they should just play the same way. It feels refreshing to see them play,” he said.

Suryakumar had also captained India when their three-match T20I series ended in a 1-1 draw with South Africa last year. Friday’s match at Kingsmead will be the first time India and South Africa will be facing each other in the format since the T20 World Cup final in June, where the visitors won by seven runs to end a long silverware drought.

“It has always been challenging playing against South Africa, be it in the T20 World Cup or any bilateral. The last time when we were here, we had a good series. Hopefully, we will have a game (tomorrow); last time we missed out on the game here. But it’s always fun and challenging and both sides enjoy having that great competition,” he added.

“We do play on good bouncy pitches back home in India also. There are quite a few, so it’s nothing new for us. We played here last year, so we know what the conditions are and what the ground and wicket have for us. We have our game plan, we’ll back that and are very excited for the series ahead,” concluded Suryakumar.