India’s in-form batter Suryakumar Yadav has revealed the plan was to be positive when Hardik Pandya joined forces with him against Zimbabwe at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney on Sunday after the Men in Blue won by 71 runs to finish at the top of Group 2 in Super 12 and also qualify for the semifinals.
India lost the wickets of well-settled Virat Kohli and KL Rahul in quick succession. However, Suryakumar Yadav was able to once again hit the ground running against the Zimbabwean bowlers. The linchpin completed his third fifty of the tournament off just 23 balls as he brought an exquisite array of shots.
Yadav consistently found the boundaries over the deep fine leg, which has been his favorite area to hit. The 32-year-old scored an unbeaten knock of 61 runs off just 25 balls to help India post a par-score of 186 runs on the board after Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to bat first.
The Mumbai batter scored six fours and four sixes and scored his runs at a strike rate of 244. Yadav added 65 runs with Hardik Pandya, which the all-rounder contributed with a run-a-ball 18. Earlier in the innings, KL Rahul continued his good form to score 51 runs off 35 balls.
Yadav was once again awarded the Player of the Match for his superb knock as he batted at the top of his game.
SKY said in the post-match presentation, “I think the plan was very clear when me and Hardik were batting together. He said we should take a positive route and we started hitting the ball and never stopped. I think the atmosphere in the team is really nice and so is the build-up towards the knockout, really looking forward to that game. My plan has always been clear, I do the same thing in the nets, I practise the same shots. I bat according to the situation and what the team needs. It feels really good, to be there (number 1 ranked T20I batter). You got to start from zero everytime, that’s what I think. It’s good to see people come out, let’s see how it goes in the next game.”
SKY would want to continue the same form in the knockout stages and he is batting at the top of his prowess. Everything which he is touching at the moment is turning into gold for the team.
India will face England in the second semifinal at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday.
