It was left to Suryakumar to provide both the substance and the style, though he needed an ally in that endeavour
Suryakumar Yadav during his 53 v Afghanistan yesterday. Pic/AP, PTI
There’s a reason why Suryakumar Yadav is ranked the world’s best T20 batter. If anyone wasn’t sure why, they were provided a timely reminder on a slowish surface at the Kensington Oval here on Thursday. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, the openers, struggled to come to grips with the track and Afghanistan’s versatile bowling in the opening Super 8 match for both sides, and while Rishabh Pant did threaten to cut loose, his cameo was ended by Rashid Khan on the reverse sweep.
It was left to Suryakumar to provide both the substance and the style, though he needed an ally in that endeavour. Fortunately for the Indians, Hardik Pandya came to the party with an excellent hand; the 60-run partnership for the fifth wicket between the two right-handers was primarily responsible for India stacking up 181 for eight after opting to bat, a total that was built with progressive momentum as the innings progressed.
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Rashid hadn’t taken a wicket in his two previous T20Is against India, but he picked up a scalp in each of his first three overs—Kohli, Pant and Shivam Dube—during an opening spell of 3-0-21-3. By then, Fazalhaq Farooqi, the tournament’s leading wicket-taker, had packed off Rohit and while India weren’t in any great danger, the runs didn’t exactly come in torrents.
That was until Suryakumar found his range. An assortment of sweeps came off his willow, in the arc between forward of square and long-leg as the board began to rattle along, while Pandya struck a few hefty blows too. Afghanistan, switched on for the first several overs, gradually began to unravel under the pressure by Suryakumar and Pandya.
Having laboured for 49 deliveries to reach 50 in his last innings against US, Suryakumar needed only 27 this time around. He fell the ball after reaching his half-century, but India found little contributions throughout the order to get a total just above par, placing the onus on their bowlers – including Kuldeep Yadav, who replaced Mohammed Siraj—to get the job done. At the time of going to press, Afghanistan were 27-3 after five overs.
Brief scores
India 181-8 in 20 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 53, Hardik Pandya 32; F Farooqi 3-33, R Khan 3-21) v Afghanistan (scores incomplete)
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