Kamal Ghorui
Former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag praised Suryakumar Yadav for playing a match-winning innings against the USA in India’s opening game of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at the Wankhede Stadium on February 7. India won the match by 29 runs, thanks largely to their captain’s calm and powerful batting under pressure.India had a shaky start while batting first and were struggling at 77 runs for 6 wickets. At that point, things could have gone badly, but Suryakumar held his nerve and played a brilliant unbeaten knock of 84 runs off 49 balls, hitting 10 fours and 4 sixes. His innings helped India reach a respectable total of 161/9 in 20 overs.
Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma also chipped in with quick runs, while USA bowlers Shadley van Schalkwyk and Harmeet Singh impressed with the ball.Sehwag called Suryakumar’s knock one of the best of his career, explaining how important it was in the match situation. He said, “Imagine if the Indian team had been all out for just 100, we wouldn’t have said that a weak team like the USA beat India. They have also qualified for the World Cup. That’s why I feel it was one of the best knocks of Suryakumar Yadav’s career. I always say, focus on the ball and not the bowler, because if it pitches in the right area, you have to respect it. If you go for your shots on a good ball, you might get out.”Sehwag also praised the USA bowlers for putting India under pressure, saying, “Take this USA team, we had heard very little about some of these bowlers, but they were able to reduce India to 77 for 6, which I don’t think any other team has managed in the last two to two-and-a-half years. So, hats off to Suryakumar Yadav, he played extremely well.”In reply, the USA scored 132/8, with Milind Kumar, Sanjay Krishnamurthi, and Shubham Ranjane putting up a fight. Indian bowlers Mohammed Siraj, Axar Patel, and Arshdeep Singh took key wickets to seal the win.
