Suryakumar Yadav's Blunt Statement On 'Uncapped' MS Dhoni: "Has Anyone Been Able To..."

Suryakumar Yadav had sacrificed his number three slot for young Tilak Varma in the national side but the Mumbai Indians' vice-captain on Saturday dropped hints that he could bat at his familiar position, saying they have a flexible batting order. Surya, India's T20 skipper, will be leading Mumbai Indians in the opening match as regular skipper Hardik Pandya is serving a one-match ban over-rate related offence during the previous edition. Asked if he would again promote the flamboyant Tilak above him in the MI batting set-up, the stand-in skipper replied: "So you might see guys being flexible during this season, during this stint with the IPL. And everyone is flexible. Even I can bat at 3, I can bat at 5, Tilak can bat at 5. So it's that flexibility we have in our team." He then explained that it was Tilak's hard work that made him think of elevating his batting position in national set-up.

"It's always good to have that impact at the top. And I have seen that guy (Tilak), he has been working really hard. So for team India, I thought it will be better if he can bat number 3 and I can take the responsibility at number 4.

"Because for me, batting number doesn't matter. I bat the same way, try and make that impact whenever there is an opportunity and so does he (Tilak)." Jasprit Bumrah has still not recovered from his lower back stress fracture and no wonder the team would miss their biggest match-winner, Surya admitted.

"It is difficult to fill in the shoes of such an amazing player. But it is part of the game. The show must go on." The Indian T20I skipper was also probed on his last season's form which was scratchy by his standards even as he enjoyed a more than 80 percent win record as national captain.

"With the form,