Indian batters Abhishek Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav in action during 2nd T20I vs South Africa in Mullanpur. (PHOTO: BCCI/PTI)Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav said he and his deputy, Shubman Gill, could have taken more responsibility in giving India a good start during the chase of 214 against South Africa in the second T20I, after the Men in Blue lost a one-sided match by 51 runs at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur, New Chandigarh, on Thursday.
India lost their top three wickets inside just four overs and never looked in a position to challenge South Africa’s daunting target.
“I think myself and Shubman could have given a good start because we can’t rely on Abhishek (Sharma) all the time,” said Suryakumar after the match to the official broadcasters.
“The way he’s been batting, he might have an off-day. I, Shubman, and a few other batters should have stepped up. I think it would have been a smarter chase. But then, it’s okay… Shubman got out on the first ball. I should have taken that responsibility and batted a little deeper. As I said, we learn, we try, and we do better in the next game,” he added.
Gill was dismissed for a golden duck in the very first over before Abhishek Sharma was sent packing by a beautiful outswinger from Marco Jansen in the second. Suryakumar couldn’t do much either, edging a delivery behind to keeper Quinton de Kock after scoring just five.
Both Suryakumar and Shubman Gill are going through a barren patch in T20I cricket. Suryakumar hasn’t scored a fifty in this format in his last 23 innings, with his last half-century coming in October 2024 against Bangladesh in Hyderabad.
All-rounder Axar Patel was sent to bat ahead of Suryakumar at No. 3, and the Indian skipper explained that the move was meant to show more backing for Patel’s batting ability.
“We just thought that in the last game we saw Axar bat really well in the longer format, and we wanted him to bat the same way today as well. Unfortunately, it didn’t work, but he did bat well. We’ll see what’s ahead for us in the next game,” he said.
India’s bowlers, especially Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah, were quite ordinary in the slog overs. The pacers gave away too many runs by bowling loose deliveries and full tosses, which were regularly dispatched into the stands.
When asked about the bowling and whether dew played a role in the full tosses, Suryakumar said, “A little bit of dew as well, and also if it wasn’t working, we should have had a second plan… but we didn’t go to that. It’s okay. As I said, it’s a learning process. We observed how they bowled in the second innings, learned from that, and we’ll try to execute better in the next game.”
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