Stand-in captain Suryakumar Yadav has praised the attitude of the India youngsters who are on their first tour of South Africa.
India will face the Proteas in the first T20I of the three-match series in Durban on Sunday.
“The guys whom I am watching right now in the T20s are very expressive, very fearless. They have that attitude. They aren’t afraid of failure. Whatever happens if they do good or if they don’t get runs on that given day, their attitude remains the same.
“I think that balance is really important and I have just told them just enjoy this format, just be yourself,” Surya said during a media conference on Saturday.
He cited the examples of Rinku Singh and Jitesh Sharma, who played a pivotal role in the home series win against Australia.
“Rinku and Jitesh so far have the opportunity to bat in the same slot (for India) as their state or IPL teams. I have told them to do what they have been doing for those teams. They did exactly that (against Australia), showing some character in some tough situations,” he noted.
The bounce and pace on South African pitches will certainly test this group of young cricketers, and the captain said they were well-equipped to face it.
“I think the key to success to playing on such wickets will be to be yourself. We’ve played on all fast tracks in India and everyone is really equipped for it... I’m sure they will enjoy playing in South Africa,” he said.
“When you go outside India, you’re always out of your comfort zone and when you do really well out of your comfort zone, it makes a lot of noise and that really encourages the boys. So, really looking forward to the series.”
He didn’t wish to read much into the fact that India will play a mere six more T20Is ahead of the World Cup in June.
