We’ll have to be aware of pace, bounce of wickets and bigger grounds in Australia: Suryakumar

Perth: India’s charismatic middle-order batter Suryakumar Yadav has said he is concentrating on the pace and bounce of the wicket during the practice sessions here ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup, adding that the team will have to keep in mind the bigger grounds in Australia and prepare its game plan accordingly.

India, a day after arriving in Perth from Mumbai on Friday (Oct 7), commenced their practice sessions at the WACA Stadium. During their stay in Perth to acclimatise early to the Australian conditions, India will play two practice matches against Western Australia XI on October 10 and 13 respectively.

They will then move to Brisbane where they will play two warm-up matches against defending champions Australia on October 17 and last year’s runners-up New Zealand on October 19, before opening their Super 12 campaign against Pakistan on October 23 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

“During practice, I only concentrate on the bounce of the wicket and the pace. The ground dimensions, there are bigger grounds here… so one has to have a game plan ready. How you will score runs here, all these things are very important,” said Suryakumar in a video posted by BCCI on social media.

Former India cricketer and ex-selector Saba Karim recently linked India’s chances of winning the T20 World Cup in Australia to Suryakumar’s form, saying it is not so easy to play with such a high strike rate in the middle overs in the T20 format but Suryakumar’s skills and experience make scoring look so easy.

Suryakumar said he was looking to peak at the right time with the training session in Perth to give India the middle-overs push in the World Cup matches.

“I was really looking forward to come here (Perth) and attend the practice sessions, go around the ground have a walk and feel how it’s like here. The first nets session was really amazing, just wanted to see how the pace and bounce of the wicket is.

“Obviously, there were some butterflies and there was a lot of excitement too but at the same time one has to also see how you mould yourself according to the atmosphere, and how you peak at the right time. I am also looking forward to that (peaking at the right time),” added Suryakumar.

–IANS