If Suryakumar Yadav has been feeling any stress over the furore between India and Pakistan, which he was so central to, he has a funny way of showing it.
It is perhaps inaccurate to say the India captain himself lit the touchpaper on a toxic handshake row that pushed the 2025 Asia Cup to the brink of farce this week.
His decision to lead his players off last Sunday without completing that specific formality, then dedicate their seven-wicket win to India’s armed forces, was certainly the headline act that exacerbated the issue.
The devil has been in the detail, though. The rest of the week has been spent working out the whys and the wherefores, the who did whats, deciding who deserves the boot, and who is the better person in all of this.
Pakistan were worked into such a frenzy about it, they were on the brink of walking out on the competition, only being coaxed back after they had overshot the start time of their last group match.
They appeared highly distracted in that game, and only survived to make the Super Four when the UAE botched an eminently manageable run chase.
Amid the fervour, the Indians have been hidden away, without a game between that summit meeting with Pakistan on Sunday, and the one against humble Oman on Friday.
Oman did actually put up an impressive fight against their superstar opposition at Zayed Cricket Stadium, albeit without ever quite seeming likely to create a shock.
Suryakumar, for his part, was a picture of chill. He said he enjoyed the way Oman’s players batted. He did not even bother with batting himself; 10 Indians made it to the crease as they racked up 188 for eight, but the captain was the odd one out.
“When one or two overs were left, Arshdeep [Singh, the Indian tailender] said he wanted to go in to bat, and I said, ‘No problem, you can definitely go in, it’s completely fine,” Suryakumar said. “If I bat or I don’t bat, winning the game is more important.”
If he was any more laid back, he would be horizontal. Which, he revealed, has been his formula for staying away from all the extraneous noise since Sunday, with the rivals set to meet again at Dubai International Stadium this Sunday.
“Close your room, switch off your phone, and sleep,” he said of his method for staying away from the chatter.
“I think that’s the best. See, it’s easy to say, but it’s sometimes difficult because you meet a lot of friends, you go out for dinner, and you have a lot of players around who like to see all these things.
“It’s very difficult, but then it’s on you in terms of what you want to listen to, what you want to have in your mind, and go on and have a practice session or go and play a game.
“But I have been very clear with all the boys. I think it's very important if you want to do well this tournament and going forward, we will have to shut a lot of noise from outside and take what is good for you.”
Not that it is possible, or even advisable, to do that entirely, he said. “I’m not saying shut the noise completely, but take what is good for you,” he said.
“Someone can give you good advice as well, which can help you in the game, which can help you on the ground.
“[But] I think that is very important for me to rest. I feel everyone is in a good space [ahead of Sunday].”
While Suryakumar opted out of batting, Varun Chakaravarthy was left out of the Oman game altogether.
The mystery spinner has just vaulted to the top of the ICC’s rankings for T20 bowlers and Suryakumar said he is keen not to miss any game time at all, despite being rested for the final group game.
“If he’s playing or not playing, he likes to come to the ground, bowl around eight to 10 overs, and [against Oman] in the warm-up, he was as pumped up as if he's playing the game,” Suryakumar said.
“I had to tell him, ‘Macha [mate], you’re taking rest today.’ But his preparations are spot on, irrespective of whether he’s playing or not.
“I think that’s one thing which is different from everyone is his preparation. He's always ready to play the game.”
India’s captain said the seven-wicket win of a week previously will count for nothing when they start against Pakistan on Sunday.
“We want to follow all the good habits which we've been doing in the last two, three games and we'll take one game at a time,” he said.
“It doesn't give us an edge that we have played them once and we had a good game. We'll have to start well from scratch and whoever plays well will win the game.”
