 "India Vs Aus T20: Only two journalists at PC leaves Suryakumar surprised")
Before debuting as India's T20 captain, Suryakumar Yadav held a pre-match press conference on Wednesday, November 22. Still, to his surprise, only two reporters showed up, according to a Hindustan Times (HT) report. Today, India and Australia will play the first T20 match of the five-match T20 series in Vishakhapatnam. Given the low turnout of journalists at a prime event like the Indian men's cricket team press conference at home, it appears that the ICC World Cup has taken a toll on the energy of players and journalists alike.
How many journalists normally attend Indian cricket teams' press conferences?
While there is no official data on the number of journalists attending press conferences, the latest event is undoubtedly among the ones with the lowest attendance of media persons.
Other than this, the Australian cricket team's captain for the T20 series, Matthew Wade, also had a press conference scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, but it appears to have not taken place, the HT report said. The reason for not holding the press conference is unknown.
While speaking with the members of the press, Suryakumar Yadav said, "Only two people?" with a wide smile on his face. He then wrapped up the four-minute-long press conference, during which he responded to multiple questions from the two journalists at the event.
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In most press conferences, many of the press's questions remain unanswered, but that was not the case on Wednesday, as Surya appeared to be willing to provide more answers, but the reporters appeared to have run out of questions, the HT report stated.
Press conferences during the ICC World Cup
During the World Cup, the Indian cricket team's press conferences were attended by more than 100 journalists. For critical matches, like the semi-finals and the final match, the number of journalists attending press conferences crossed 200. This is not a large number, given that journalists from across the world visit India to cover their respective teams.
The short gap between the press conference and the World Cup final to blame?
The Cricket World Cup final was played between Australia and India on Sunday, November 19. Despite an exceptional performance during the tournament, India lost by six wickets. The press conference on Wednesday was scheduled barely 96 hours after the world cup final match played between India and Australia.
Also Read: Here's why Rohit Sharma should play T20 cricket ahead of World Cup in June
What did Suryakumar Yadav say on India's final loss at the World Cup?
Naturally, S K Yadav was asked about the unfortunate loss in the World Cup final. "It is difficult. It will take time. It can't be that you wake up the next morning and you forget everything that happened. It was a long tournament. We would have loved to win it." Yadav added, "We played a positive brand of cricket throughout the tournament. We can be very proud of that."