Suryakumar Yadav Reveals Taking Ritika Sajdeh’s Advice For Asia Cup: ‘She Told Me Rohit…’ | Cricket News

Suryakumar Yadav has revealed he took the advice of entrepreneur Ritika Sajdeh, who is also India men’s ODI captain Rohit Sharma’s wife, ahead of the 2025 Asia Cup. Suryakumar said that Ritika told him that Rohit shuts all his social media apps before big tournaments, and the T20I skipper did the same for the 2025 Asia Cup.

The decision helped Suryakumar cut out the extra noise, which was at a peak during the tournament in the UAE, mainly due to a triple contest against arch political rivals Pakistan. Surya’s personal form was also not great, but he maintained his composure as the captain, which kept the team calm through the tumultuous streak of controversies, starting from no handshakes to the trophyless celebrations on the final day.

“I knew there would be a lot of noise,” he told The Indian Express. “One can’t ignore WhatsApp because it’s the mode of communication. But before coming here, I deleted all my social media from my phone, be it Instagram, Twitter, Facebook. Because if it’s on your phone, people send messages, and it’s a human thing to see it. I remember speaking to Rohit (Sharma) and his wife (Ritika) how he cut the noise before big games. Ritika told me that he shuts all his social media apps on his phone. I also followed it, and it helped in my decision-making,” Suryakumar added.

Although India maintained an unbeaten run, some were criticising them for being too distracted from the on-field contests. But the team’s five-wicket win over Pakistan in the final has allayed those concerns, for now.

Suryakumar trying to learn from Rohit Sharma for his batting form

His on-field captaincy was mostly spotless and off the field too; players spoke highly of him, but Suryakumar’s batting form was underwhelming. After an unbeaten 47 runs against Pakistan, he scored 18 runs in the next four games, including the final, and his average and strike rate dropped to 18 and 101.41, respectively.

In the interview, he maintained his post-match stance that he didn’t have a ‘form’ issue, but vowed to take inspiration from Rohit on how to become a better batter with the extra responsibility.

“I get a slight start then gaadi band ho jaati hai, (the vehicle stops). It is not that I am not playing shots. I am playing shots too. I have not stopped anything. I can’t say that I have no form. I can only say that I am out of runs. So there is no pressure of captaincy. Now when you see Rohit Bhai, he has batted more openly in his captaincy. It is just that there will be a small hurdle and I will cross it. God has saved everything for the right time,” he said.