“We have not seen the best of him” - Ex-Indian keeper makes a big statement on Indian T20I captain

Former Indian keeper-batter Deep Dasgupta has heaped praise on the Indian T20I team, led by Suryakumar Yadav, for bagging a comfortable 101-run win over South Africa in the first T20I on a sticky wicket in Cuttack.

Speaking exclusively to PTI, the former keeper lauded India’s batting depth on a wicket that wasn’t good enough for batting. On the other hand, Deep Dasgupta also talked about Shubman Gill and Suryakumar Yadav not being amongst the runs.

"The win last night showed how good India is, especially when it is not a watch-the-ball, hit-the-ball pitch (Cuttack was a sticky surface). It says a lot about their depth," Dasgupta told news agency PTI.

"(On SKY and Gill) I would not say it is a concern, but ideally you would want to see them get runs. Once you start thinking about runs, the chances are you won't bat freely. With Surya, it is not just one series; we have not seen the best of him since he took over the captaincy last year,” he added.

Meanwhile, Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav has revealed the team’s mindset of being fearless with the willow before they head to the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 in India and Sri Lanka next year. 

"I said at the toss that we were 50:50 but happy to bat. At 48 for 3 and to get 175 was great. We thought we would get to 160, but 175 was unbelievable," Suryakumar said during the post-match presentation.

"With 7-8 batters, there will be days when the other batters cover it up. We want everyone to be fearless and enjoy their batting. I think Arshdeep and Bumrah were the perfect bowlers in the powerplay. Hardik coming back later on, him coming back from injury, we had to take care of him,” SKY concluded.

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