IND vs SL: If I was bowling to Surya, I'd be disheartened, says India captain Hardik Pandya

India's stand-in captain Hardik Pandya has said if he were bowling to Suryakumar Yadav, he would be "disheartened."

Surya registered his third T20I hundred on Saturday during India's third T20I against Sri Lanka at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot. Surya was named the Player of the Match as his knock of 112 not out off 51 helped India beat the tourists by 91 runs and clinch the three-match T20I series 2-1.

The 32-year-old batsman, who made his debut in 2021, became only the second Indian batter to score three T20I centuries, with only Rohit Sharma (4) ahead of the former in the list of most T20I hundreds for India.

During the post-match presentation, Hardik, who is leading India in Rohit's absence, heaped praise on Surya, saying he makes batting look "so easy."

"I think he (SKY) has been surprising everyone every innings that he is batting. He is just telling us that batting is so easy. If I were bowling to him, I'd be disheartened on seeing his batting. Special mention to Rahul Tripathi - the ball was doing something but he showed great intent. Then SKY did his thing. You don't need to tell him anything, he knows what to do. If there is any situation where he is unsure, we have our chats but more often than not, he knows what to do," said Hardik after India's victory in Rajkot.

Meanwhile, Surya credited head coach Rahul Dravid for his recent innings, saying the former captain just asks him to express himself and enjoy his batting.

"It's really important to put pressure on yourself when you are preparing for a game. If you do that in practice, it gets a little easier while playing the game. There is a lot of hard work involved but it's about doing quality practice sessions.

"You should know what your game is and prepare accordingly. Boundaries behind are like 50-60 meters, so I was targeting them. There are some shots that are pre-determined but you need to have other shots too so that if the bowler changes his plan, you can have an answer. He (Dravid) just lets me enjoy myself. He tells me to just enjoy and express myself," said Surya.

Hardik also made a special mention about bowling all-rounder Axar Patel for his recent contributions with the bat. In the second game, Axar scored a quick-fire 65 before scoring a nine-ball 21 in the third T20I.

"I'm really proud of him (Axar), the way he is batting down the order and hitting. This will give a lot of confidence to him and the team as well. My motto in life as captain has been that I'll back my players. These are the best T20 cricketers in India and that's why they are here. There is no space for doubting in this format and we're backing the players properly. The way we played in the series is pleasing, we didn't even play 50 percent of our game in the second game but we still fought well," added Hardik.

'Hardik gives me confidence, protects me,' says Axar Patel

Axar was named the Player of the Series for finishing as the third leading scorer with 117 runs in three T20Is at an average of 117 and strike-rate of 195. He credited his skipper Hardik for giving him confidence and for backing him.

"Feel happier when the team benefits from my batting (when compared to bowling). Didn't do anything different for this series, just that the captain gave me a lot of confidence in the dugout. He tells me to play freely and that he is there to protect me. We do a lot of planning during team meetings but sometimes things do go wrong and I just focus on doing my plans properly," added Axar.

India and Sri Lanka will next face off against each other in the One-Day Internationals (ODIs), starting from Tuesday (Jan. 10) in Guwahati. The next two ODIs will be played on Jan. 12 in Kolkata and Jan. 15 in Thiruvananthapuram.