Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], March 7 (ANI): Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav on Saturday brushed off New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner’s comment about silencing the home crowd ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup final, calling it predictable.
Santner earlier on Saturday had said his team aims to quieten the packed Narendra Modi Stadium crowd during Sunday’s T20 World Cup final.
Yadav felt such statements are becoming cliches, saying, “Everybody is saying the same line. They should try something new”.
Yadav’s response echoes the sentiment that these remarks are common before big matches, similar to Pat Cummins’ statement before the 2023 ODI World Cup final, which Australia won.
India is looking to defend its title, while New Zealand aims to break its ICC title drought as they clash on Sunday in Ahmedabad at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
“The goal is to silence the crowd. There are a lot of variables in T20 cricket, and it is fickle at times. If we go out about our business the same way, we can upset another big team. There’s obviously a lot of pressure on in there (on India) to win this World Cup at home,” Mitchell Santner told the reporters.
When asked about Santner’s remark, Suryakumar Yadav responded with a wry smile, suggesting that such comments from opposition teams have now become predictable before big matches.
Suryakumar was speaking to the reporters on the eve of India’s T20 World Cup title defence against New Zealand in Ahmedabad on Saturday.
“Sab he same line chipka rahe hai. Kuch to naya bolo (Everyone is now saying the same thing. Come up with something new),” Suryakumar Yadav told reporters.
In their head-to-head clashes, history may favour New Zealand, but form is with India. The Black Caps have not lost a match to India in the T20 World Cup, having scored victories in 2007, 2016 and 2021. However, the host nation were dominant in their recent T20I series in India, with a comfortable 4-1 win. (ANI)
