Indian batter Suryakumar Yadav played a crucial knock in the recently concluded first ODI of the ongoing three-match series against West Indies. The right-handed batter remained unbeaten on 34 off 36 deliveries to help the hosts chase down the paltry target of 177 runs in 28 overs at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
After the match, Suryakumar spoke about the interesting chat he had with West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard when the Pune-lad walked out to bat. Suryakumar revealed that Pollard, who is also his Mumbai Indians (MI) teammate in the Indian Premier League (IPL), asked him why he wasn’t playing his traditional flick shot.
“Pollard told me a few things. ‘Midwicket was open, why are you not flicking like you do in IPL’ but it was different here… I wanted to stay there till the end,” Suryakumar told the official broadcasters.
Notably, Suryakumar was well supported by debutant Deepak Hooda in the run chase as the duo put on a match-winning unbeaten partnership of 62 runs to steer India over the finish line. Surya mentioned that he didn’t suggest anything to Hooda regarding how to bat as the Rohtak-born all-rounder an experienced player in the domestic circuit.
“I think things were really clear. I didn’t tell him [Hooda] anything. He has played domestic cricket for the last seven years. It was important for him to stay till the end, and his confidence was spot on. I really liked it. I feel the track was almost the same as it was in the afternoon. But due to dew, it became slightly easier in the chase,” added Surya.
“We want to keep getting better as a team, and all in all, it was a great effort from everyone. We spoke of what we wanted to achieve, and we ticked all the boxes,” said Rohit Sharma, who captained India for the first time as a full-time white-ball Indian skipper.
