Even when the questions became more pointed, Suryakumar stayed loyal to his sense of humour. ©Asian Cricket Council
A lot had gone on behind the scenes before eight captains, including those of India and Pakistan, sat huddled close together on a dais in Dubai. At the captains’ press conference, the expectation was the usual talk of geopolitics and “archrivalry” that so often frames India-Pakistan contests, or even tournaments featuring the two. Instead, it was humour that did the heavy lifting, cutting through the uncertainty that had hovered over this Asia Cup.
And it was Suryakumar Yadav who set the tone. In his first press conference as captain at a multi-nation tournament, he looked completely at ease, slipping Hinglish phrases into answers delivered with a ready smile. He called the evenings in Dubai “very pleasant,” though they have been anything but, and at one point leaned across to Charith Asalanka with a playful pat on the thigh, teasing how the Sri Lanka captain would “want to forget” the final over he bowled in Pallekele that dragged India to a tie.
Even when the questions became more pointed, Suryakumar stayed loyal to his sense of humour. Asked if India were overwhelming favourites, he countered with a quick “Who said?!” When pressed about Sanju Samson’s role, he said India would take “really good care” of him, without elaborating if that meant a place in the eleven. He even offered to text the playing XI across, but never asked for the number.
It was sharp and cheeky from the Indian captain that turned a potentially stiff occasion into something of a banter.
The others seemed to catch the mood. Asalanka admitted he was “sleepy,” having flown straight in from Zimbabwe, while Rashid Khan wondered aloud what he was doing in Dubai when Afghanistan had their Asia Cup opener in Abu Dhabi in less than five hours. “Well, I don’t think it’s ideal,” he said, before adding that as professionals they simply had to adapt. Neither was complaining too much, their words softened with tired smiles.
Even Pakistan’s Salman Agha, answering a question around the dropping of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan from the T20I set-up, chose not to play into tropes about “big players” or “big shoes to fill.” Asked how it’s been without the two veterans, he simply said, “It’s been good.” The response was disarmingly simple and all the funnier for how little it matched the weight of the question.
The subject of aggression came up too, though here the answers carried more seriousness. “Aggression is always there when we take the field,” Suryakumar said. “Without aggression, you can’t play cricket. I’m very excited to take the field starting tomorrow.” Agha, by contrast, preferred to leave it to the individuals. “Everyone is different individually. If someone wants to be aggressive on the field, they are more than welcome to do that. When it comes to fast bowlers, they are always aggressive and you can’t stop them because that’s what keeps them going. From my side, there is no instruction to anyone, as long as it stays on the field.”
That, though, was about as serious as the evening got. For the most part, the dais of eight traded chuckles and easy one-liners, a world away from the uncertainty that had hung over this Asia Cup. And when Suryakumar was coaxed about the challenges of captaining India in such a setting, he signed off in the same spirit that had carried him through the evening: “Abhi tak sab badhiya chal raha kyu bina matlab ka ungli karna hai” (If something is working, why change).
It was not just a line about cricket, but about the mood too. And at the Dubai International Stadium, through the 20 minutes or so that the captains were onstage, it felt like the simplest, truest answer of them all.
© Cricbuzz
