India skipper Suryakumar Yadav praised his team’s fearless approach and the contribution of multiple batters against South Africa in the first T20I in Cuttack on Tuesday.
India produced a dominant performance, winning by a massive 101 runs.
The victory was powered by Hardik Pandya’s unbeaten 28-ball 59 and a resilient batting recovery orchestrated by India skipper Suryakumar Yadav.
He said during the post-match presentation, "I said at the toss that we were 50:50 but happy to bat. At 48 for 3 and to get 175, was great. We thought we would get to 160, but 175 was unbelievable."
India were 104 for five at one stage but managed to post a fighting total thanks to contributions from the lower order.
Suryakumar added, "With 7-8 batters, there will be days when the other batters cover it up. We want everyone to be fearless and enjoy their batting."
On the bowling strategy, the India captain explained Pandya’s absence from powerplay duties, saying, "I think Arshdeep and Bumrah were the perfect bowlers in the powerplay. Hardik coming back later on, him coming back from injury we had to take care of him."
Had to back my shots: Pandya
Returning to international cricket after recovering from a quadricep injury, Pandya displayed his hitting prowess, smashing six fours and four sixes.
He said, "I had to back my shots. I realised the wicket had a bit of spice. I had to be a bit gutsy. It was more about timing the ball, not breaking the ball. I was very satisfied with the way I was batting."
Pandya had missed tours to Australia and the ODIs against South Africa following his injury during the Asia Cup in September.
Reflecting on his preparation, he said, "The last six-seven months have been great from my fitness point of view. These last 50 days, being away from loved ones, being at NCA, making sure that all these things are covered. It was satisfying when you come here, the results come like this."
Regarding his role in the bowling lineup, Pandya added, "As a cricketer, I have never been fussy about what roles I have in the game. I have always been motivated to make sure that it doesn't matter what Hardik Pandya wants, it is about what India wants. The mindset helps me. I have always tried to put my team first. That is my biggest USP and that is what has helped me."
'It’s a pity that it had to happen in the first game'
South Africa skipper Aiden Markram rued the lack of partnerships as his side was bowled out for just 74 in 12.3 overs, their lowest total in T20 Internationals.
He said, "Nice to start the way we did. We put some emphasis on starting well, and that was a box we ticked. From a batting point of view, it’s unfortunately something that can happen in this format. It’s a pity that it had to happen in the first game, but you have to draw a line through it. It’s a quick turnaround and we’ll give it another crack in a couple of days’ time."
Talking about the wicket, Markram noted, "I felt it was quite sticky. That steep tennis-ball bounce and a little bit there with the ball throughout the innings. 175, I suppose we would have taken it. We would’ve backed ourselves to chase that down. You can always nitpick and find areas where you feel it could have been better to reduce it by 10-15 runs, but we would have taken that."
Reflecting on their batting failure, he said, "We just needed to be better with the bat, and unfortunately that wasn’t the case. It’s quite hard. Nowadays in T20 cricket, there’s not much time to look around and absorb. But the biggest factor was obviously not being able to build partnerships, settling after losing wickets and getting some momentum on our side. So yeah, we’ll have brief conversations tomorrow. You don’t want to dive too deep into things like this. You almost just want to draw a line through it and stick to the positive ways of this format."
