Lalit Yadav of the Delhi Capitals feels he is qualified to take over for all-arounder Ravindra Jadeja, who ended his T20I career after India’s victorious World Cup campaign in the West Indies.
Lalit claims to be well aware of the requirements of the position, for which Washington Sundar is also advocating on his behalf.
“Yes, of course, I do see myself in the race for the slot of an all-rounder. To play for India and don its jersey is something that plays on my mind every day, it’s the biggest motivation for me,” Lalit told PTI Videos in an interview on Thursday.
The 27-year-old, who is presently playing for Purani Dilli 6 in the Delhi Premier League, has not performed particularly well in the competition thus far.
Lalit’s bowling stats of four wickets at an economy of seven in twenty-three overs also cut a terrible figure. He has scored 94 runs at an average of 18.80 in seven innings.
“I am not satisfied with it, I am very hungry for the next few games, and I would count this as an average performance,” he stated.
As an experienced IPL participant, he thinks the league is full with talented players who should be able to participate in the prestigious tournament.
“If you look at players like Priyansh Arya and Vansh Bedi, and many more if you see, each team has one or two players who are ready to play in the IPL. I am really pleased to see that there are so many talented players in our state.
“Naturally, if I perform better people will develop their thought processes and observation. I just pay attention to the things that are within my control and the rest I cannot control there is nothing I can do about that.
“I learnt new things from this tournament, like never to give up no matter what, and how to bounce back,” he stated.
With three wins, two losses, and a fourth-place ranking, the captain does not feel under any pressure to guide the squad.
“There’s no pressure to be captain; it’s a responsibility, and I enjoy it.
“A lot of wonderful things have happened since the last game; we won a close game, and we want to keep that momentum going in the remaining games.
“We play East Delhi today; if we do well, we will prevail. We think like this, and we have a strong intuition that we’ll be eligible,” he continued.
He believes the players have adjusted to the situation well, considering they were not previously exposed to their matches being televised.
“This is the first DPL, and the players are gradually turning into pros after participating in the first game. The players in the DPL are just beginning to play at a high level, but those in the IPL have more experience.
“So, of course, there will be hiccups, and a sense of fear, but they are slowly getting used to it and going forward, the DPL will improve,” he said.
