Dubai Captials' Sam Billings praises Suryakumar Yadav and talks about difficult middle order role

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00:00Sam, this is your second year playing. I think last year you played for Vipers and this year

00:11you're playing for Capitals. How do you view last year's tournament and what do you see

00:17the difference in and what are your targets this year?

00:19A lot of questions there. Yeah, really loving it. Obviously a change of team but part of

00:26the GML sports family again and I love being looked after there. They're a great franchise

00:32set up. Really excited to play this year again and looking forward to the game tomorrow.

00:40We've got a very strong squad as do all the other squads but very confident that hopefully

00:46we can get a nice win tomorrow.

00:48And what about the standard from last year? You have experienced this ILT 20 in the first

00:53season and you're seeing it this year. What are your impressions on the season 2?

00:56I think it's definitely improved actually. You look at the squads and the consistency

01:04of quality all the way down and the players who aren't playing. Yeah, I think it's a really

01:10great tournament and the standard just gets better and better.

01:13You spoke about consistency. T20 is a game where you can't be consistent but what do

01:20you think as a batter you need to adapt to try to be as consistent as possible?

01:26It's finding your process as a senior player. Like you said, you're never always going to

01:31be that consistent because it's a high-risk game. But it's finding your process and what

01:37works for you in preparation but also in the games as well. So it's just trusting that

01:42and sticking with that to hopefully get the performances. For me as a batter, it's all

01:48about adapting to conditions, especially in the middle overs. You've got to read conditions

01:52pretty well and work it out in your own head really.

01:58The middle overs and coming in the middle order, it's not going to be an easy task at

02:02all. No, it's hard over here. The conditions are

02:06tough in the middle overs. It's definitely something that you've got to work out pretty

02:13quickly and still have that intent. Talking about middle order, I see Surik

02:17Maryadia becoming the best player of T20 this year. So what do you think he's doing

02:23it and what is it something you want to adapt or something that is in T20 which is doing

02:31well and that can be adapted by others? I think he's had a phenomenal year. He's

02:36a phenomenal cricketer and 360 player. I think everyone's so unique. I have strengths as

02:46well and it's just finding out what works for you really. You're never not learning

02:52as a player. I think you're always learning about things. Having someone like David Warner

02:57here in our team is a perfect person to learn off. It's just great to see how guys go about

03:03their business but also have those conversations. We're coming to England. England is now embarking

03:10on a very important test series. How do you view this test series? Are you looking at

03:15it closely? I'm always a fan of England cricket. It's

03:20going to be fascinating to see how both teams play and the conditions that are on offer

03:25over there. I'm really looking forward to it. India is a huge task at home. We always

03:31know that they're one of the best teams at home, if not the best team at home. You've

03:37got to be right on point. How do you think England will approach it? Will Basavar continue?

03:43They won't change. They have their method. They might adapt it accordingly to conditions

03:49but the intent will be there and they'll be trying to put as much pressure on India as

03:52possible. Who do you think will be the key threat in

03:56the Indian team, being at the batting or the bowling part? Who do you think will shine

04:01from England's point of view? I think Ben Duckett will have a brilliant series

04:05because he's a very good player of spin. For me, he's going to be the pick of the England

04:10batters and obviously Joe Root is a class act, great player of spin as well. Those two

04:14are going to be key for England. Janesha is always going to be tough. For me, he's going

04:20to be the one for England to watch out of. Coming back to the T20 format, these days

04:29we see a resurgence in the fast bowlers because earlier it was the left-hand spinners, in

04:33between there was a left-hand spinner, left-hand orthodox and now the fast bowlers are coming

04:38more into the play in the T20 format. What are your thoughts and what is the reason as

04:44a batsman if you think? I think wrist spin still plays a huge part.

04:51I think the most balanced attacks, the best bowling attacks always win tournaments. You

04:56need different varieties, so left-arm spin, wrist spin, left-arm bowlers, right-arm bowlers.

05:02So I think variety is the key factor. What do you think about the Dubai Capitals

05:07this year? Will you be there? What are your targets right now, the goals for the year?

05:13The goal is always to win. That's always the goal. We're here to win a tournament but we

05:20don't get too far ahead. We're focusing on the game tomorrow.

05:23Lovely. All the very best, son.

05:25Thank you very much.

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