There has been much debate regarding whether Surya Kumar Yadav was denied chances earlier on in his career to represent India. Well, now the man is here and is showing everyone what they have missed for all these years, as he marches on to yet another half-century in just 34 balls.
The stage was set for India when their batters walked out. The bowlers had done their job by restricting the New Zealand team to 164. The momentum was in India’s favor and the batters just played along. After yet another 50-run partnership between Rohit and Rahul, in walked Surya Kumar Yadav with no pressure on his back. The newly inducted Indian skipper was already batting on 31 of 17 balls, and all Yadav had to do was play along.
After getting his eyes in, Yadav decided to take on the charge. He targeted Tom Astle, who was on the New Zealand side in place of Ish Sodhi. In the 12th over of the match, Yadav took Astle for the cleaners and whipped him for 15 runs to tilt the game in his side’s favor. In the 15th over, he decided to take on Ferguson, the most economic blower of the inning and scored 12 runs off it. Yadav hit one of his trademark shots over the fine leg to reach his third fifty in T20 internationals. Then in the 16th over, he scored back-to-back boundaries against Tim Southee, the New Zealand captain, before getting out in the 17th over to Tim Southee.
Yadav departed after playing a masterful inning of 62 runs in just 40 balls. His inning consisted of 6 fours and 3 sixes that kept the crowd on their feet and the opposition under pressure.