Pallekele, July 26: Ahead of the first T20I against Sri Lanka, India's newly-appointed T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav opened up on his relationship with head coach Gautam Gambhir, with who he played in Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) earlier in his career.

India's tour of Sri Lanka begins with a T20I on Saturday and consists of three T20Is and three ODIs each. Gill will be the deputy to Suryakumar Yadav and Rohit Sharma in the short format and 50-overs, respectively. This is Gambhir's first assignment as head coach after being appointed to the position earlier in July after Rahul Dravid vacated the post following the ICC T20 World Cup win in West Indies.

In a video posted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Suryakumar spoke about playing with KKR under Gambhir's captaincy back in 2014 and how their relationship has gotten strong over the years.

"This relationship (with Gambhir) is very special because when I went in IPL 2014, I played under him for KKR. It was special because I got the opportunity to play for that franchise. My relationship is still strong with him. But he knows how I work, what my mindset is when I come to practice with him, and how he tries to work. as a coach it is all about that lovely relationship we have and very excited to see how it goes forward," said Suryakumar.

Suryakumar played 54 matches for KKR from 2014 to 2017 as a youngster trying to break into Team India. He scored 608 runs in 41 innings at an average of 22.52 and a strike rate of over 131, with one half-century. Gambhir was one of Suryakumar's biggest early support systems and it was evident in the fact that the batter was once even the vice-captain of KKR.

On being a leader, Suryakumar said that he always enjoys being a leader on the field and he has learnt a lot of things from other captains he has played under.

"It is a good feeling and a great responsibility also," he added.
Talking about one big lesson this sport has given him, Suryakumar Yadav said that it has taught him to be humble and add a sense of balance to his life.

"I think the most important thing I have learnt from this sport is how humble you are after achieving something or even after when you are not doing well. That is one thing that I have learned. When you do something on the ground, you have to leave it on the ground and when you go off the field, that is it. This is not your life. It is just part of your life. So you cannot be... When you are doing well, you stay on the top and when you're not doing well, you are underground. That is one thing which I feel you should not do as a sportsman," he added.

Suryakumar led India in seven T20Is last year during the home T20I series against Australia and an away series against South Africa, winning five matches and losing two.

India's tour of Sri Lanka will kick- off with a three-match T20I series, followed by a three-match ODI series. The Pallekele International Stadium will be hosting the T20I leg of the series while the R Premadasa is getting to host the 50-over matches.

The three ODIs will be held on August 2, August 4, and August 7.

Both teams will be taking to the field with new head coaches. While legendary all-rounder Sanath Jayasuriya has been named as the interim head coach for Lankan Lions, this will also be the first assignment for former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir as the head coach, succeeding the T20 World Cup-winning coach Rahul Dravid.

India's last tour of Sri Lanka for a bilateral white-ball series came back in July 2021, with Dravid coaching the Shikhar Dhawan-led side. India won the ODI series 2-1, while Sri Lanka secured the T20I series by the same margin.

T20I Squad for Sri Lanka series: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Riyan Parag, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Mohammed Siraj.
ODI Squad for Sri Lanka series: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Riyan Parag, Axar Patel, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshit Rana. (ANI)

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