New Delhi: India’s T20 World Cup winning captain Surya Kumar Yadav has revealed that making one of the biggest selection calls of the tournament Ishan Kishan finished Jitesh Sharma – was mostly driven by instinct rather than pure numbers. The skipper admitted the decision was tough but insisted his gut feeling told him Kishan could be the “X-factor” India needed on the big stage.Go beyond limits with our YouTube channel. Subscribe now!Suryakumar said the call was a delicate balance between data and intuition. He said in a podcast interview with PTI Videos, “It was purely on gut, a bit on data. It was very tough on Jitesh Sharma at that time because he had been playing with the team for over a year.
The turning point came during a live chat with Kishan, the skipper revealed. “I called him and asked, ‘Chhoto, will you win the World Cup?’ He asked, will you trust? I said, ‘Let’s go’. And the way he played was amazing,” recalled Surya Kumar. “I always knew he could be the X Factor because he has no baggage.”Kishan justified that faith in style during the tournament, opening the innings and batting at No. 3, scoring 317 runs in nine matches at a strike rate of over 190. His tally was the fourth highest in the competition as India won the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup for the second time in a row, under his influence. Rohit Sharma In 2024Surya Kumar also highlighted Kishan’s determination to fight his way back into the national set-up after a difficult phase. “He was going through a bad patch and was out of the team for a while. But he used to travel all over India playing practice matches and small games just to stay ready,” he said.Another tactical call that proved decisive was to add. Sanju Samson At the top of the order. According to Surya Kumar, Samson’s arrival changed the trajectory of India’s campaign. “Once Sanju joined, the tide changed completely. It was also tactical because we had a lot of left-armers at the top and the opposition off-spinners were finding it easy.”Samson responded with match-winning performances, including scores of 89 in both the semi-final and final, ultimately earning the Player of the Tournament award.Reflecting on his approach, Surya Kumar described T20 batting as largely natural. “It’s a reaction game. About 70 to 75 percent of batting is reaction and the rest is instinct. On a given day, you just gauge what the conditions demand and bat accordingly,” he said.
