\u2018If there\u2019s no pressure, there\u2019s no fun\u2019<\/p>\n
Rajkot
\nThe best way to deal with pressure is to embrace it, India captain Suryakumar Yadav reminded his teammates ahead of Sunday\u2019s final of the T20 World Cup at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
\nIndia are bidding to become the first team to retain the T20 World Cup title and to achieve that, they will have to deal with not just a strong New Zealand XI but also the weight of expectation from a cricket-mad nation of about 1.4 billion people.
\nLeading the team in the final of a home World Cup was a \u201cspecial feeling\u201d, and Suryakumar said they were looking forward to the challenge.
\n\u201cThere are nerves, butterflies in the stomach, but as I always say \u2014 if there\u2019s no pressure, there\u2019s no fun,\u201d Suryakumar told reporters on Saturday.
\n\u201cI\u2019m very excited. All the boys and support staff, and I\u2019m sure all of India is excited for tomorrow.\u201d
\nMore than 100,000 predominantly home fans are expected to fill the world\u2019s largest cricket stadium where Australia famously beat India in the final of the 50-overs World Cup three years ago.
\nExpectations are mounting again as India also try to become the first host to win a T20 World Cup.
\nSuryakumar said they try not to talk about cricket and the presence of \u201ccharacters\u201d like Arshdeep Singh and Axar Patel keeps the dressing room atmosphere light.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s very important to have such characters around, because when the situation is tight, you need someone to joke around in the bus and in the dressing room, to calm the dressing room,\u201d said Suryakumar.
\n\u201cWe do not talk about cricket-intense situations because players, like Axar, Arshdeep, (Jasprit) Bumrah \u2014 all these people, they know what to do.
\n\u201cWe want to be very relaxed, be in the present, not think about what will happen in the final.\u201d
\nSuryakumar said as captain, he had also resisted the temptation to be the \u2018big brother\u2019 in the dressing room and encouraged individuality.
\n\u201cI feel a good team culture is very important. A happy team atmosphere is the key,\u201d he added.
\n\u201cGive them freedom, listen to their ideas as well about what they feel.
\n\u201cI think it is very important to understand what everyone wants in the team.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u2018If there\u2019s no pressure, there\u2019s no fun\u2019 Rajkot The best way to deal with pressure is to embrace it, India captain Suryakumar Yadav reminded his teammates ahead of Sunday\u2019s final of the T20 World Cup at the Narendra Modi Stadium. India are bidding to become the first team to retain the T20 World Cup title […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":535454,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-535433","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n