Axar Patel has heaped praise on India's newly announced T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav for his leadership abilities and the way he keeps the atmosphere of the dressing room pretty "cool".
Suryakumar Yadav pipped Hardik Pandya in the race to India's T20I captaincy and will lead the team during their upcoming tour of Sri Lanka, starting July 26.
Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Axar mentioned that Surya is a "happy-go-lucky guy" and encourages his bowlers by giving them the field they ask for.
"I have spent a lot of time with Suryakumar. Surya bhai is a happy-go-lucky guy. He keeps the atmosphere lively, loves doing mimicry and such fun stuff. I know he will keep the atmosphere cool," said Axar.
"I recently played a five-game T20I series when he was the captain. I know he is a bowler's captain. He gives the bowlers the fields they ask for. And it was like that with me, too. I don't think there will be a lot of change," he added.
Axar also pointed out that it is too early to judge Suryakumar as captain as he has only led a team in a handful of games. He believes that it would be unfair to judge the Mumbai batter's captaincy as he needs more games under his belt as captain of India.
"We will get to know now playing under his captaincy about his mindset. You can't judge someone's captaincy by one tour. When we play more, we will get to know more of his captaincy style," Axar mentioned.
Meanwhile, India will travel to Sri Lanka for a three-match T20I and ODI series. The first T20I will be played on July 27 at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.
India's T20I squad for Sri Lanka series
Suryakumar Yadav (c), Ꮪhubman Gill (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Riyan Parag, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Mohammed Siraj
