A warm Friday evening in Abu Dhabi and India had just survived a proper workout against Oman, edging home by 11 runs to stay perfect in the Asia Cup. While the usual post-match routine involves ice baths and recovery drinks, Suryakumar Yadav was still on duty. First he played traffic warden in the outfield, then informal mentor in the middle, and finally reluctant press-conference host in a small room under the main stand.
India’s captain didn’t bat a ball – the top order needed time in the middle, so he sat out – but he spent most of Oman’s chase waving fielders into gaps and cajoling the bowlers. When the game ended he was cornered, in the nicest possible way, by Sulakshan Kulkarni, his old Mumbai coach and now Oman’s assistant. Kulkarni asked if the India skipper would say a few words to the Omani squad. Suryakumar obliged, wandering across to the opposing huddle, signing bats, posing for photos and offering a short pep-talk about “enjoying the contest” ahead of their T20 World Cup qualifiers. He even dropped by their dressing-room for a quick chat before remembering the final item on his own to-do list.
With India due back in Dubai overnight and a Pakistan fixture less than 48 hours away, the team management decided the mandatory pre-match media call had to happen immediately. So, still in kit, Suryakumar faced the microphones.
The opening question was predictable: how do you drown out the noise before playing Pakistan? He grinned and served up the line of the night.
“Close your room, switch off your phone and sleep,” he laughed. The assembled hacks laughed as well, at which point he expanded. “Of course, it’s not always possible. You meet a lot of friends, you go out to dinner. You have other players also around who like to see all these things. So it’s very difficult, but then it’s on you. What you want to listen to, what you want to have in your mind.”
He said he had delivered a similar message inside the dressing-room. “But I have been very clear with all the boys. I think it’s very important. If you want to do well in this tournament and going forward, we will have to shut out a lot of noise from outside. And take what is good for you.”
That balance – filtering advice without becoming blinkered – matters to him. “I’m not saying shut the noise completely, but take what is good for you. Someone can give you good advice as well, which can help you in the game, which can help you on the ground. So I think that is very important for me. And rest, I feel everyone is in a good space.”
A follow-up came quickly, this time about the “massive” build-up to Sunday’s showdown. His response was pure Mumbai street-wise humour. “Build-up? Match is in 24 hours, yaar (dude)! Who has time for build-up?”
That laugh eased the room, but his broader point was serious: the schedule is too tight for theatrics. India reached their hotel close to 3am on Saturday, recovery sessions are booked in blocks, and there is barely time to analyse footage let alone indulge in hype. For players navigating back-to-back games, clarity of plan – who bowls when, batting-order flexibility, Powerplay targets – counts for more than grand talk of rivalry.
On the tactical front, India’s experimentation continues. The side has used four separate opening pairs in three matches and rotated five seamers in search of the best Powerplay combination. Former Test opener Abhinav Mukund, watching from the television studio, suggested the shuffling was “controlled chaos”, while ex-India stalwart Wasim Jaffer felt a settled No.3 slot could “anchor the innings when the track misbehaves”. Both agreed the idea is to ready multiple options for the 2026 T20 World Cup, not merely this Asia Cup.
The bowling, meanwhile, still leans heavily on wrist-spin in the middle overs. Against Oman the ploy produced mixed returns; the leg-spinners conceded boundaries but also created two chances in the deep that steadied things. “They’re not defensive bowlers,” assistant coach Paras Mhambrey reminded reporters later in the night, “we use them to take wickets, even if it means leaking a few.”
The Pakistan match, on paper, should demand fewer experiments. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj are pencilled in for their first outing of the tournament, and the likelihood is Virat Kohli slides back to his favoured No.3 with Suryakumar at four. Yet the captain kept that card close to his chest, joking at the toss against Oman that he was “turning into Rohit Sharma, forgetting who we’ve picked”. The self-deprecation landed well but did not mask the bigger truth: he and the coaching staff will keep tweaking until the formula feels right.
For now, though, the mantra is simple: close the door, phone off, sleep. There will be noise in Dubai soon enough; India’s skipper is convinced ignoring most of it is half the battle won.
