Varun Aaron lauds Suryakumar Yadav’s knock in AUS vs IND 2025 1st T20I

Former Indian fast bowler Varun Aaron believes Suryakumar Yadav’s knock in the first T20I against Australia at the Manuka Oval, Canberra will add a shot to his arm. Yadav was struggling with his form in T20Is but he was seen at his usual best on Wednesday.

SKY hit Australia’s gun fast bowler Josh Hazlewood for a trademark six in the deep fine-leg region, which got him going. SKY scored an impressive knock of 39 runs off 24 balls, including three fours and two sixes. 

Meanwhile, Yadav had failed to lead from the front in the Asia Cup as he could not deliver the goods with the bat. The right-hander could only manage 72 runs in six innings at an average of 18 and a strike rate of 101.40 in the continental tournament. Furthermore, Yadav had not scored a fifty in the last 16 T20I innings before the Australia series.

“I think this will give him a lot of confidence. No matter how big a batter, we saw it with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the ODI series, where you have scored almost 15,000 ODI runs, but when you don’t get runs, suddenly you feel like you can’t hit a single boundary. Suryakumar was averaging 11 before he came into this innings, and he has batted just like Suryakumar Yadav,” Varun Aaron said on Star Sports.

“That first shot against Josh Hazlewood was just a statement shot because the previous ball, most batsmen after getting a ball like that, to which he was beaten all ends up, would be a bit cautious and try and take a safe route, but Suryakumar Yadav did what he does best. That was an unbelievable six. That just got him off,” he added.

On the other hand, former Indian wicket-keeper bat Parthiv Patel said Suryakumar Yadav looked assured in his footwork during his unbeaten knock.

“When you get one of your favorite shots at the start, which Suryakumar got here, the shot he played off Hazlewood’s bowling, after that, although no runs came off two balls, it seemed like the footwork had almost returned. The surety was being seen in the footwork,” he said.

The opening match was called off due to rain after India managed 97-1 in 9.4 overs when they were put into bat by Australian skipper Mitchell Marsh.

The second T20I between Australia and India will be played at the MCG on Friday.