Akshar Patel helped Suryakumar Yadav guide Team India to a T20I series win over Australia in his maiden stint at the helm, and the stand-in skipper was in awe of the spinning all-rounder.

India won the five-match T20I series under Suryakumar’s captaincy after the hosts crushed Australia by 20 runs in the fourth game in Raipur on December 1, with the fifth and final match set to be played on Sunday, December 3, in Bengaluru.

Akshar played a key role in Suryakumar starting his captaincy journey with a bang, recording figures of 3/16 to ensure the Men in Blue successfully defend the target of 175 runs against Australia.

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Suryakumar Yadav said in the post-match presentation: “Apart from the toss, I think the rest of the things have gone our way tonight. But yeah, the toss didn't go our way. The boys have shown characters and still fight to the end of the game, and winning was brilliant.”

He added, “It was most important for us. We spoke in the meeting before the game to go out, and I said to them to express themselves and be fearless.”

The stand-in skipper also lauded Rinku Singh (46) and Jitesh Sharma (35) for taking the charge of the team after quick wickets in Raipur. He added, “After losing a few quick wickets, the wickets of the senior batters, credit goes to those youngsters (Rinku and Jitesh) for the way they batted and got us to a competitive score.”

Praising Akshar, Suryakumar said: “I always love to put Axar Patel under pressure. He bowls very well when put under pressure. The way he bowled tonight was unbelievable. The plan was very clear, to bowl yorkers on the stumps, and we'll take it from there. If that doesn't work, we'll see what happens.”

He signed off by hinting at some changes in the playing XI for the fifth and final T20I against Australia. "There will be changes in Bengaluru, but not sure what's it," he said.

(With Jio Cinema Inputs)