Suryakumar Yadav played a vital role in India’s narrow six-wicket victory over New Zealand in the second T20I in Lucknow on Sunday (January 29).

Chasing the paltry target of 100, India’s top-order failed to get going against the Kiwi spinners on a turning wicket. When the hosts were struggling at 70/4, Suryakumar (26*) and skipper Hardik Pandya (15*) batted sensibly, forging an unbeaten 31-run partnership to take India home with one ball to spare.

After the game, Suryakumar Yadav had a conversation with the spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav for bcci.tv.

During the candid chat, Surya credited Chahal for his batting tips and said, “Thank you, I am using your batting tips. You are my batting coach. Sab sikhata hai yeh.”

Suryakumar’s career T20I strike rate is 175.63 but he was rather cautious in the second T20I against New Zealand. The dashing right-hander took 31 balls to score his runs and his knock was studded with only one boundary, which was also the winning shot.

When asked about his slow batting, Yadav said, “I was there in the middle with a clear mindset that it’s a tough wicket to play on and it was important for someone to play till last. It was equally important to build small partnerships and adapt to the situations. I knew this was a totally different wicket than the ones I play freely. I was confident that if I managed to stay till last, I could win the game in the last over as well. When Hardik came in, we had a chat and planned to take the game till last.”

India needed 6 runs off the final over and the equation soon became 3 off 2 balls. However, Suryakumar Yadav held his nerves in the pressure situation and hit a boundary on the penultimate delivery to seal the deal.

“We were confident enough to win the game and Hardik and I were in a conversation that if any one of us gets the big hit, the match is ours. We did not panic and the communication with Hardik was very important,” Surya remarked.