"When I see his body language, I know what he wants to say to me" - Suryakumar Yadav on his special bond with Gautam Gambhir

Team India's T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav has described his bond with new head coach Gautam Gambhir as a special one. He explained that the two know each other so well that one can understand what the other is trying to say by observing the body language itself.

Although Hardik Pandya was India's vice-captain in the 2024 T20 World Cup, Suryakumar was elevated to captaincy following Rohit Sharma's retirement from the T20I format. The star batter has reunited with his former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) teammate Gambhir, who is in Sri Lanka for his maiden assignment as Team India's head coach.

At a press conference ahead of the first T20I, which will be played in Pallekele on Saturday, July 27, Suryakumar spoke in detail about his equation with the team's new head coach.

"Our bond has always been special. From 2014 till now, it has been exactly 10 years. In 2018, I joined another [IPL] franchise and he joined another franchise. But we used to talk regularly about the game. When he used to play with another team, I used to play with him. We used to discuss the game to see if we could do better in that match," the 33-year-old said.

"The learning has been going on since six years when I was not with him. This bond is always special. We have talked a lot, but not so much. But he knows my body language. When I see his body language, I know what he wants to say to me. And what I want to say to him," he continued.

"Even when I say nothing sometimes, he understands what I want and vice versa. So this bond is very special between coach and captain. I am very excited for this journey ahead," Suryakumar went on to add.

While Gambhir has been named as India's new head coach, the KKR duo of Ryan ten Doeschate and Abhishek Nayar have been named as assistant coaches for the white-ball series in Sri Lanka.

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"I don’t think my batting style will change" - Suryakumar on the pressure of captaincy

It has been observed that batters have often changed their style of play after being given the additional responsibility of leading the team. Suryakumar, however, asserted that captaincy will not change the way he bats. On the other hand, he stated that he will look to bat even more freely and lead by example.

"I don’t think my batting style will change. Pressure is always there. Without it, there is no fun of playing the sport. I will play the same way I have been doing so far. In fact, now I can openly tell the team about the brand of cricket we need to play going forward," the right-handed batter concluded.

Suryakumar has an exceptional record in T20Is. In 68 matches, he has scored 2340 runs at an average of 43.33 and a strike rate of 167.74, with four hundreds and 19 fifties.