MANCHESTER (Reuters) – Suryakumar Yadav will be hoping to vindicate the faith India captain Rohit Sharma has shown in him with a game-winning run in Sunday’s decisive one-day international against England.
India beat England by 10 wickets in the first ODI at the Oval only for the over-50 world champions to bounce back with a 100 run victory at Lord’s that left the series level three matches at 1-1.
Suryakumar, 31, produced arguably the standout innings on the white ball leg of the Indian tour, a stunning 117 in the third International Twenty20 at Trent Bridge. This, however, was in a losing cause, although India won the series 2-1.
“The camaraderie has been really good,” Suryakumar, who played with Rohit in both Mumbai and the Indian Premier League franchise Mumbai Indians, told reporters at Old Trafford on Saturday.
“He’s been watching me and talking to me about cricket since I’ve been playing National cricket.
“Coming into the IPL in 2018/19 we used to talk about how I could improve my game, deal with pressure situations and move forward. We had a lot of talk about my game and I literally felt him on the ground every time he led. I learned a lot from him.”
Suryakumar added: “I’m really happy that he showed a lot of confidence in me. I would like to return that confidence by scoring points and winning the game for the team.”
The talented right-hander is particularly keen to impress in England, having been a member of the squad for last year’s tour, cut short before what should have been the fifth Test at Old Trafford by coronavirus concerns in the Indian camp .
“I came here last year with the test team, I didn’t have the chance, but I enjoyed the training sessions, I hit the net a lot and I really wanted to do part of the XI,” Suryakumar said.
“It’s (Old Trafford) a nice ground, it also looks like a nice wicket.”
