IND v AUS 2023: Suryakumar Yadav attributes India’s 4-1 T20I series win to "fearless" approach

Surya led the young Indian team to a T20I series win over Australia.

Indian players posing with the T20I trophy | GettyIn the absence of injured Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav led the young Indian team to a T20I series win over Australia at home.

The Men in Blue defeated the Aussies by six runs in the fifth and final T20I in Bangalore on Sunday (December 4) to clinch the series 4-1.

After the match, captain Suryakumar attributed India’s series win to "fearless" approach.

"Yeah, I think, I mean, it was a good series in the end. To win it 4-1, I think, the boys have done well. Absolutely, we wanted to be fearless and I told them to play freely as they would normally. I told them to enjoy ourselves when we were in the middle. So, very happy with that," Surya said in the post-match presentation.

Talking about the fifth T20I, the hosts posted 160/8 on the board after being asked to bat first. Shreyas Iyer was the top scorer with 37-ball 53 while Akshar Patel (31 off 21) and Jitesh Sharma (24 off 16) returned with valuable cameos.

Defending the total, Indian bowlers did exceptionally well as a unit to restrict Australia to 154/8 in 20 overs. Akshar Patel (1-14) and Ravi Bishnoi (2-29) troubled the visiting batters with their spin while the pace duo of Mukesh Kumar (3-32) and Arshdeep Singh (2-40) bowled brilliantly in the death overs to seal the deal.

Travis Head (28 off 18), Ben McDermott (54 off 36) and Matthew Wade (22 off 15) played impactful knocks for Australia but they failed to finish the job.

"It was a tricky wicket to bat on. I have seen the games where the first innings score was 200-220 have been easy to chase down. The score of 160-170 was just about par. At the halfway through the second innings, I said to the boys, we have a game on," the Indian captain added.

With Hardik still recovering from his ankle injury, Suryakumar Yadav will lead the Indian T20I team in the upcoming tour of South Africa, starting December 10.

 
 

By Salman Anjum - 04 Dec, 2023

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