In the second Twenty20 International of the five-match series between South Africa and India, Suryakumar Yadav justified the management’s decision to send Axar Patel ahead of him. In his 51 T20I innings before the match in Mullanpur on December 11, Axar had not batted at number three. Additionally, he gave respect to the way the opponents bowled in the second innings.
We supported Axar’s decision because he has been hitting well in all formats. Tonight, it simply didn’t click. Bad luck, yet we grow and learn from this. I’ll see you in Dharamshala. Yes, there was some dew, but we could have switched sooner when Plan A wasn’t working. During the post-match presentation, Suryakumar said, “South Africa showed us exactly how to bowl in the second innings, and we will take that into the next game.”
Suryakumar attributed Axar’s rise to his cross-format abilities.
Axar was ejected for a run-a-ball 21 in the meanwhile, proving that his move was unsuccessful. India was bowled out for 162 in 19.1 overs, losing by 51 runs as the Aiden Markram-led team tied the series. Suryakumar was out for just five off four.
The 35-year-old batter also placed the blame on himself, saying he ought to have taken greater ownership of his actions and batted deeper. Additionally, he acknowledged that the Indian team was unable to quickly adapt to the changing situations with the ball.
“Abhishek has shown great talent, but we can’t count on him to perform flawlessly every time. I should have controlled the chase and batted deeper, but Shubman was out on the first ball. Other than the toss, everything just didn’t go our way today. It’s okay; perhaps I should have batted after winning. It wasn’t until we were bowling first that we realised how crucial the lengths were on this wicket. It is a process of learning, and we proceed,” he continued.
On December 14, the third game is set to take place at the Mullanpur Cricket Stadium in New Chandigarh.
India
