‘Complete captain’ tag for Suryakumar Yadav for not losing focus despite IND vs PAK handshake controversy | Cricket News
NEW DELHI: Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif lauded India’s T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav for keeping his composure and focus despite the chatter on social media following the team’s unbeaten run at the ongoing Asia Cup 2025.Suryakumar is leading India in the Asia Cup for the first time, and the team has been flawless so far in the tournament. Under his leadership, India started their campaign with a nine-wicket win over the UAE and then crushed arch-rivals Pakistan by seven wickets in their next fixture.Praising the 34-year-old’s leadership, Kaif wrote on X, “Suryakumar Yadav emerges as a true leader in this Asia Cup. Scoring winning runs in a high-pressure game, marshalling the bowlers intelligently, not losing focus despite social media noise. SKY is a complete captain.”Suryakumar took over as India’s full-time T20I captain after Rohit Sharma’s retirement from the shortest format. The Nagpur-born batter announced his T20I exit after leading India to their T20 World Cup triumph in June 2024.In the high-voltage clash against Pakistan, Suryakumar played a crucial role with the bat, remaining unbeaten on 47 off 37 balls. He hit the winning runs, finishing off India’s chase of 128 with a six off the penultimate delivery of the 16th over.Earlier, India’s bowlers delivered a clinical performance, restricting Pakistan to just 127/9 in 20 overs. Kuldeep Yadav was the standout performer, claiming 3/18 in his four-over spell.
Openers Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma got India off to a flying start before Suryakumar took control and guided the team home with a calm and composed innings.With two wins from two games, India are on top of the Group A points table and have already booked their place in the Super Four stage. The top two teams from Groups A and B will battle in the Super Four round for a spot in the final.India will face Oman in their final group-stage match on Friday, September 19, at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
