The other side of Surya
21 Jan 2026 15:28:16
Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav reacts during the press
conference on eve of India-New Zealand first T20I of the five match series that begins at VCA’s Jamtha Stadium on Wednesday evening. (Pic by Satish Raut)
By Paritosh Pramanik :
INDIAN captain Suryakumar Yadav loves to pose a smile every time. He also makes the press conferences lighter with his style of replies. On Tuesday, the other side of Surya was on display as his replies evoked laughter in the press conference hall of VCA’s Jamtha Stadium.
As the skipper walked in the media room and took his seat, his antics started.
A ball-shaped broadcasters’ logo was kept on the table near the mic. Bemused, Surya picked up to check it. Somebody from the media said ‘ball hai’. “Wo to important hai (It’s the most important thing),” Surya quickly replied amidst laughter in the press conference hall to set the presser rolling.
When one of the scribes reminded him that India lost the Test series against New Zealand and recently the One-Dayers.
“We have lost to them (Tests) some 10 years back, isn’t it?,” quipped the captain to another round of laughter. “Somebody just said 2026 aa gaya … so I thought it’s too old to talk. Let’s talk about the T20 format because we will be playing this format for the moment,” replied Surya.
However, the best was reserved for the last. When asked about the pitch and how it would behave on the match day, Surya said, “Achcha dikh raha hai … ekdum hara bhara … khali santre nahi uge hai udhar … but achcha hai. Ground is good … the crowd is good here,” he sarcastically said and left the room amidst laughter.