SKY opens up post Asia Cup 2025 -“Desh ke sath chalna zaroori hai”

Defending champions India won the Asia Cup 9^th time under the captaincy of Surya Kumar Yadav. The series was in high octane much before the start of the series. India banning bi-lateral series with Pakistan but to play against them in ICC tournaments had mixed views.

Also read: India-Pakistan Asia Cup Face-Off Green-Lit; Government Maintains Bilateral Sports stand-off

From skipping handshakes to Pakistani players war signals had added to the drama. It all peaked when Indian team refused to accept trophy from the Pakistan board and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chief Mohsin Naqvi, who is also his country’s interior minister

In an interview given to Indian Express, SKY spoke freely about his relationship with current coach Gautam Gambhir. He discussed handling pressure and navigating energies of Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma. He also talked about the handshake situation.

Handling pressure at last moments of the chase

Sky said there was high pressure in last moments. Because when you are on the field playing, you have less pressure. Watching from the dressing room adds a lot to the pressure. After 8^th over SKY was mostly inside the dressing room until Tilak Varma and took charge of the run chase. He had full confidence in Dubey to take the team through the crunch.

No Handshake

SKY said “Desh ke sath chalna zaroori hai”. (It’s important to go with the country). He had earlier in a press conference has said some things are above sportsmanship in life. This was a little ahead of it. It was very important and unanimous stand to go for no handshake.

Controlling the outside noise

I knew there would be a lot of noise. One can’t ignore whatsapp because it’s the mode of communication. But before coming here I deleted all my social media from my phone, be it Instagram, Twitter, Facebook. Because if it’s on your phone people send messages and its human thing to see it. I remember speaking to Rohit (Sharma) and his wife (Ritika) how he cut the noise before big games. Ritika told me that he shuts all his social media app from his phone. I also followed it, and it helped in my decision making.

Celebrations without the trophy

We were in the dressing room for an hour, talking and making fun of each other. A few had an early morning flight too. And then everyone made their own AI trophy. If we don’t get the silverware, it can’t define how we have played our cricket.

What is the strategy for young Indian team?

Like Abhishek and Gil play from the top. So, if I am going to play 3 or 4, I will play as it is. Now I will not think that I have to make 40, 50, 100. I will see how I can impact by playing 12-15 balls. Because we have set the same trend in the team. There are 7-8 batsmen in the team. We feel that 4-5 need to perform well. They need to help the team reach a total that our bowlers can defend. Ab woh nahi chalega ke anchor karo, last tak khelo. (Now, there is no need for anchoring, play till last). When the situation comes, we are equipped for that. Like Tilak played yesterday.

Abhishek’s his aggressive batting

Gauti bhai (Gambhir) and I have told him not to change his game. Don’t change your identity as it’s the thing that has defined you. The thing that has brought you here. Don’t leave it. This is your identity. Keep backing yourself and keep backing your skill. And you will make a lot of difference from the team’s point of view. Koi dikkat nahi hai. There is no problem if he gets out trying to play a high risk shot on the first ball. T20 is a high-risk, high-reward format. He took risks the whole tournament and got a lot of rewards.

What’s your take on Gambhir as a coach?

Gambhir likes to work behind the scenes and will never come in front. He understands the game and understands the pressure situations. He knows how all these things work and I think he was the best man to guide us. He was the one who told me to try Shivam Dube with the new ball yesterday.

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