Cuttack, Dec 8 (IANS) Ahead of the T20I series opener against South Africa, India skipper Suryakumar Yadav said playing in domestic matches is vital as it provides a good challenge to stay in touch with the game when not playing internationally.

The series against South Africa marks India’s final phase of preparations for defending their title in next year’s T20 World Cup. Players such as Suryakumar, Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, and Shivam Dube are entering the series after a productive period with their respective state teams in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

“Regarding playing domestic cricket, according to me, it’s important to go back to roots. When we are not playing international games, it serves as a good challenge to go back to domestic circuit and play there, as it is a highly competitive atmosphere. It helps you prepare well, like how Abhishek and others played recently,” Suryakumar said in the pre-match press conference on Monday.

“If you come to internationals after playing domestic games, you stay in touch with the game. You get to learn a lot and I feel it’s the best preparation for any player. A lot of players have been playing domestic games, so it is good,” he added.

He also said the Indian team won’t tinker with their combinations for the upcoming series against the Proteas, citing the preparation they’ve put in to nail it since winning the 2024 T20 World Cup. “Our T20 World Cup preparation started after the end of 2024 T20 World Cup (won by India). It’s not like we can come two months before the tournament and say now we have to start preparing because such a big competition is coming.

“So it started long way back. Like when you prepare for an exam in school, you don’t start studying just four days before it begins. You prepare for it by studying for at least in last one or two months. So, likewise, our World Cup prep began after 2024, and we have been working on certain things ahead of the competition.

“In the last five-six series which we have played, we have played with a similar combination. We don’t want to change too much in terms of combinations in the next two series. The focus is simply on the type of cricket we want to play and try when on the field; apart from that, there’s nothing major we want to alter. Touchwood it is going the same way and we don’t want to change anything.

“We have two months left for the World Cup. We are going to play 10 good T20s against two good teams. We will focus on tomorrow’s game and this series. Then we will play five T20s with New Zealand. Then we will play the World Cup. We will talk about that when we get closer. Everything is going well now,” he concluded.

–IANS

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