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The question to Suryakumar from a Pakistani journalist was straightforward: “Did you feel that Pakistan has competed in a better way today?” But he went on a different tangent, and said: “I would like to say something on this question.” He continued: “I feel that you should stop asking questions on rivalry. Because (talking of rivalry), I didn’t get the standard of rivalry. Standard rivalry is the same thing, whether a team plays good cricket or not,” he said.
The question had not even mentioned the word rivalry. Then he explained his concept of rivalry: “According to me, if two teams have to play 15-20 matches, and if there’s a 7-all or someone is ahead 8-7, then it’s called playing good cricket and it’s called rivalry. 13-0, 10-1, I don’t know what the stats are. But this is not a rivalry anymore.,” he said. Surya did not answer the question, but made the point he wanted to make.
This was the last question of the night. Surya smiled beatifically and wished good night. The assessment was not as inflammatory as those he had uttered last Sunday, when he dedicated the victory to the victims of the Pahalgam terror strikes, the families and jawans of the Operation Sindoor. This would hurt Pakistan as much, as they put on a much improved performance on Sunday. Surya was dwelling on India’s domination of Pakistan in ICC events (where they lead 7-1). Or the overall T20I record against Pakistan, which India boss 11-3.
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The last question apart, everything was routine. He waxed eloquent on Shubman Gill. “Everyone knows what kind of player he is and what he brings to the table, what he brings to the team. The only thing I want to say about him is he knows how to score runs. And the way he scored it today is actually a sign of a very good batter. He would have done the same thing that Abhishek was doing. He backed his shots. He played low risk, high reward strokes. And he has been practising a lot and I was really happy to see him play that in the game,” he said.
He praised Abhishek Sharma’s work ethics. “I think he is very selfless when it comes to his batting style. As he passes the powerplay, he can still bat the same way he bats in the powerplay. But the way he analyses the situation post power play, what is required of him, what bowlers are going to bowl, that’s a plus point for him. He is learning every game and it’s very important for someone like him to understand what his role is, how he can bat a little deeper into the innings. And he takes one game at a time. Most importantly, what I have seen from him is that never misses any practice session. He is always there to do something at least.
Even if he doesn’t want to bat, he is there on the job. So he always wants to be active and if you keep working hard, God always has plans for you,” he said.
Their camaraderie augurs well for the team, he said. “I think it is really important to be very good friends off the field. If you are batting together, opening together, that really helps to get your bond a little stronger. Sometimes you don’t have to say anything on the field. You look in the eye and take that cheeky signal or compliment each other if someone is going really strong or if someone is having a hard day. I think that friendship comes into picture when they both bat together,” he added.
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