Suryakumar Yadav, in an interview with Indian Express, spoke about the preparations that went into the aftermath of India’s T20 World Cup victory. India won their second T20 World Cup title after 17 years. This is also their first ICC title in over a decade.
India went on the defensive and South Africa needed 30 off 30 balls. Jasprrit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya bowled the last five overs and led India to victory. Hardik defended 16 off the last over and also took two crucial wickets.
He removed David Miller on the first ball of the last over and SKY took a brilliant catch at long-on point. It was a relay catch and hence much talked about. The third umpire was happy with the replays and ruled the decision in India’s favour. SKY also took the catch of Kagiso Rabada on the penultimate delivery of the match.
SKY, in his interaction with Indian Express, recalled the “mistake” of not doing this time what they did in the ICC World Cup final. Surya said that they felt they had already won the World Cup and they just needed to go on the field and collect the trophy.
“The way we played in India, a day before the final, we thought we just need to go on the field and collect the trophy. It was a learning experience for us and we rectified the mistakes we made. In 2023, we were thinking a lot, which we didn’t do this time. Aur dekho kaam ho gaya (we did the job),” Suryakumar Yadav told Indian Express.
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However, he spoke about the changes the team made in their mindset ahead of this T20 World Cup. They remained unbeaten throughout the campaign and also won close matches against Pakistan and Australia. They defeated the mighty Australians and eventually knocked them out of the tournament.
He said none of the players talked about winning the tournament before it started and that they tried to stay grounded.
“Before this tournament started, we decided that we would not talk about what lies ahead in the tournament. Nobody thought about the Super 8 and the same was the case with the final in Barbados. Our mind has to be where our feet are, that was our motto,” Suryakumar added.
Rohit Sharma, in his post-match press conference, also said that he really wanted to win this trophy and that was his main goal. He also thanked his players and support staff for their contribution to the team’s success.
Rohit finished with 257 runs, the most for India in this tournament. Suryakumar finished with 199 and Virat Kohli’s crucial 76 runs set the stage for the big score in the final. South Africa had to chase a record total to win the World Cup and the pressure got to them once again.
Rohit, Virat and Ravindra Jadeja retired from T20Is after India’s T20 World Cup win, paving the way for the next generation.
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