IND vs AUS: Only two attend press conference ahead of T20I series opener

India recently played in the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they were defeated by Australia in the final by six wickets. The tournament generated a tremendous buzz worldwide, which was reflected in the extensive media coverage with a plethora of media personnel present at various events during the tournament.

However, Suryakumar Yadav, India's captain for the upcoming T20I series against Australia starting on November 23 in Visakhapatnam, was surprised to find only two media representatives in attendance at the press conference on the eve of the first T20I. 

Renowned Indian sports journalist Vimal Kumar expressed concern about the significant drop in attendance at press conferences in India, taking to Twitter to share his thoughts. "From 200 odd media people (during World Cup) to just two in press conference in India is staggering! SKY wouldn’t have imagined this in his firstPC as captain. Is this a record with fewest attendance in a press conference in India? I would imagine so,” his post read on X (formerly Twitter).

Talking about the recently concluded ODI World Cup, India were defeated by the mighty Aussies in the final of the event. Batting first, India scored 241 runs which was chased down quite comfortably by the Aussies, thanks to a brilliant hundred by Travis Head who scored a match-winning 137 of just 120 balls in the high-pressure final.

SuryaKUMAR spoke about the disappointment of India’s loss in the World Cup but also highlighted the positive brand of cricket that the Indian team played throughout the tournament. 

“It is a little disappointing, obviously. At the end, when you look back at the journey, it was a really great campaign. Every member, not only the players, all of India were very proud of the way we displayed our talent on the ground. That was the positive, the brand of cricket that we played throughout the tournament. And we are really proud of that,” he said.

On being asked about the prospect of returning to the ground within three days after the heartbreaking loss against the Aussies, he said that it's not going to be an easy task for him and the players but one will have to move on.

“It is difficult. It will take time. It can't be that you get up next morning, and forget everything that happened. It was a long tournament. Obviously, we would have loved to win. But you got to look at the light at the end of the tunnel. You have to forget, and move on. It is a fresh team, with new boys and new energy. So, we are looking forward to this series,” he added.