Suryakumar: 'I am not out of form, I am out of runs'

It was well past midnight on Monday in Dubai when Suryakumar Yadav walked into the press conference room. It had been a night mired in chaos and confusion. Who would present India the Asia Cup trophy? Would India accept it if it came from ACC chairman Mohsin Naqvi? Would Pakistan even turn up for their press conference, amid rumours that their team bus had already left? We got the answers by and by.

Suryakumar had endured a poor tournament, and the non-cricketing issues may or may not have taken a toll on his form.

There was the unbeaten 47 in India's second game of the tournament, against Pakistan, but he had scores of 0, 5, 12 and 1 to end the Asia Cup with. On Sunday, his dismissal attempting to loft Shaheen Shah Afridi on the up left India precariously placed at 10 for 2 in their chase of 147.

"I feel I am not out of form, I feel I am out of runs," Suryakumar said. "I believe more in what I am doing in the nets and my preparation. So in matches, things are on autopilot."

His record as captain, though, has been impeccable. Since becoming full-time T20I captain, he has racked up series wins over Sri Lanka, South Africa and England and now at the Asia Cup, where India won seven games in a row to win their ninth title.

Having answered the question on his form, Suryakumar directed the mic jovially the other way, egging journalists on to direct some of the questions towards Abhishek Sharma, the Player of the Tournament who sat alongside him. "I've felt personally that when you are not scoring runs, it is difficult to take the team along. But Surya bhai is the same irrespective of whether he has scored runs or not," Abhishek said, throwing his weight behind his captain.

Suryakumar had to contend with more than just cricket at the Asia Cup. It began with a handshake with Asian Cricket Council and PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi during the captains' press conference - a routine gesture that quickly turned contentious and set the tone for what followed.

Days later, at the toss on September 14, Suryakumar's refusal to shake hands with Pakistan captain Salman Agha added fresh spark to the issue. Next came a series of gestures and confrontations from both sides, eventually forcing the match referee to step in for disciplinary hearings.

"I feel it was not that difficult [to deal with]," Suryakumar said. "The boys took it in their stride. Since day one, I was just telling them to focus on cricket and enjoy the game. The boys took it in a positive way. We were very focused in every game."

Suryakumar stressed that despite everything that went on, there was a bigger sense of satisfaction around where India were at in the runway to the T20 World Cup early next year, where they are defending champions.

"What we wanted to achieve in this tournament, we have achieved," he said. "There are a lot of things which you don't get to achieve in a bilateral tournament. This was like a knockout tournament.

"As soon as we entered the Super Four, I told the boys that let's approach it like a quarter-final, semi-final and final. So we played a semi-final type of game against Sri Lanka, and then it was a perfect final. There are nerves, responsibility and pressure, and it was a perfect final."

When asked about half-centurion and Player of the Match Tilak Varma, the only name barely touched upon in an unusually long press conference, Suryakumar chose to throw the spotlight on the entire team.

"I wouldn't want to point out one player," he said. "From the first game to the final, a lot of players came in and stepped up at crucial moments. Tilak played an unbelievable knock in the final. We've seen him do that before. Kuldeep [Yadav] and Varun [Chakravarthy] came back with the ball. This is just not about the final. Throughout the journey in the tournament, we've stepped up and seized small moments. This was a collective effort."