“I worry for the people worried about Abhishek’s form,” Suryakumar chuckled at the press conference. “Why are they so worried about Abhishek’s form? I think about those teams who are going to play against him. That he has not yet scored a run. When he scores, you have seen what happens.
“It happens [ducks]; it’s a team sport, it keeps going on. Now the team has a requirement that the ladka (guy) should play with his identity. So he is trying to play. If it happens, it’s fine, if it doesn’t, we are there to cover.
“Last year he covered for us, now we will cover for him.”
And Abhishek’s lack of runs won’t force them to look elsewhere. Even if India run the risk of being predictable with the left-handedness in their squad – six in the top eight – which has given opposition offspinners an opportunity to make plans.
“Should I play Sanju for Abhishek,” Suryakumar responded when asked if India could bring in Sanju Samson. When told Samson could bat No. 3, Suryakumar widened his eyes theatrically.
“You mean I should make him play for Tilak? It’s going well in the powerplay. We’re still making 40-50 runs,” he said. “That’s normal cricket. We have expectations from ourselves to score 220, 240, 250. But the wickets are a little different here.
“The four wickets we have played on so far were a little different and challenging. Offspinners were not bowling earlier but they are now. So we have started preparation for that and hopefully we will tackle it as we start our Super Eight journey.”
With the fun and banter settling, Suryakumar went on to explain Tilak’s role in earnest. He has been striking at 120.45 in the tournament so far, with all his innings at No. 3.
“I have told him, the team management has told him that he has to bat that way,” he said. “If one wicket is down, then he can go and have his own game in the powerplay. But as soon as two wickets are down, then he has to take a little bit of backseat, get a partnership again, get to the 10th over and then we have enough firepower to continue and take on the bowling.
“But yeah, definitely, I am sure he must not be happy with how he is batting right now. He must be and he has practised a lot as well in the last two-three practice sessions. But I don’t have any concern regarding him. He has been delivering for India at No. 3 really well and I am very confident that he will do it better.”
Then came a question on pressure and expectations in a home World Cup and how all hotel lobby conversations that end with “Cup laana hai (get it home).”
“See, it’s very difficult to say that there’s no pressure, or it’s easy to handle,” he said. “But yeah, when you’re playing such a big event on your home soil, you definitely feel pressure. It’s not that you can run away from it because you meet so many people in the hotel when you are travelling, all with the same goal: to win the World Cup, we have to do well.
“So yes, of course, there is pressure. But at the same time, every individual has a plan to deal with it. How you want to take it forward is in your hands. But we are trying our best to keep it simple.”
To that effect, India, he said, are trying to stay present and not drift too far ahead. The early wobble against USA was their “wake-up call.” Since then, it’s been “one step at a time.”
And what about the law of averages? The unbeaten run in the group stages. The possibility of suddenly staring at a must-win with two games left?
“We don’t think about it that much,” he said. “We win so many games, but that is history now. The more we stay in the present, the better it works.”
Shashank Kishore is a senior correspondent at ESPNcricinfo
