‘The sky wasn’t blue for a year': Suryakumar after ending run drought with series-winning show

Thiruvananthapuram: Suryakumar Yadav had a run drought over 23 innings, but when the wheels of fortune turned, it was once again raining runs, something he has manifested over the past one year, the Indian skipper said after winning the Player of the Series award in India's 4-1 rout of New Zealand.

Suryakumar scored three fifty plus scores in his tally of 242 runs at a strike rate close to 200 in the five-match series against New Zealand.

"It feels really good. It's been a long year and a long wait for moments like this. I've always dreamed about when this time would come," a beaming skipper said after ending as the top scorer in the series.

When asked what went through his mind during the past one year, the Mumbaikar, who is blessed with cheeky streak, replied: "I think the 'Sky' wasn't blue for a year. But that's life. It's part of the journey. I took it in my stride, went back to the drawing board, tried to understand what was going wrong."

He said that the gap between South Africa T20Is and the just concluded series, did help him to work on the finer points of his game.

"After the last series, I got two or three weeks where I spent time with close friends, they told me a few important things I needed to follow. That's a sportsperson's life.

"I've seen so many careers, not just in cricket, where people go through these phases. I knew my time would come if I kept doing the small things right. I'm really happy with how things have turned out."

He had always maintained that he isn't out of form but just out of runs and he was vindicated during the New Zealand series.

"I just kept doing the same things I'd been doing over the last year, stuck to my routines. I knew I wasn't out of form, just out of runs. It's been a very good series, and going into the World Cup feeling like this is really special."

Batting with Abhishek Sharma helps, says Kishan

Ishan Kishan, who has made a great comeback to international cricket, believes that batting alongside Abhishek Sharma has given him clarity that intent should be paramount in this format.

"Batting alongside Abhishek Sharma really helps. You see his intent, you understand the momentum the team needs, and then you just try to watch the ball and play accordingly. That approach worked well for me today," said Ishan, who followed up his 80-odd in the second T20I with a blazing maiden hundred on the day.

He got to his century in 42 balls and the last 50 runs came off just 14 deliveries.

"I think that's the mindset of everyone in our team now. Even if you're close to a milestone, it doesn't really matter.

"If you start taking singles at that stage, you might feel later that you missed an opportunity to go big. So if the ball is there to hit, you have to go for it. The focus is on winning matches, not personal milestones," Kishan outlined the team's philosophy.

There has been positives, believes Santner

New Zealand might have lost 1-4 but skipper Mitchell Santner strongly believes that there were loads of positives going into the T20 World Cup.

"I think when you're challenged throughout a series, that's always a good thing. You put both your bowlers and batters under pressure, and you can only learn from that. From that point of view, it's been a really good series for us," said Santner.

"Obviously, the results haven't gone our way, but there are learnings from every single game. As a bowling unit, we've got to find ways against very good batters - guys who deal in boundaries and sixes," he said.