Former Indian wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik lauded skipper Suryakumar Yadav after the Men in Blue registered a comprehensive seven-wicket win against Pakistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai in the ongoing Asia Cup on Sunday.
SKY scored a crucial knock of unbeaten 47 runs off 37 balls in the run-chase of 128 with the help of five fours and one six. Karthik said it was an important knock by the Indian skipper as the openers had got out.
Yadav added 56 runs with Tilak Varma, who scored a run-a-ball 31, for the third wicket.
Dinesh Karthik said on Cricbuzz, “It was an important 47 purely because Gill got out early. He walked in at a stage where you lose a couple more wickets and the game looks different. And his record against Pakistan hasn’t been great. He would have wanted to set that right. On a tough pitch which wasn’t too easy to bat, he made batting look simple. He stuck to his shots and completed it with absolute comfort in terms of the approach to chasing down a small total like this.”
“We always see him take down the fast bowlers a lot but today it was his turn to show how good he is against spinners. He played the sweep to a nice effect and the cut shot nicely. After taking over captaincy, his form hasn’t been as good as we are used to prior to captaincy. But the fact is that he is a world class player without a doubt. He had a quiet start to the IPL actually in the first couple of games and then just took off.”
The former Indian stumper said T20 is the best format for Suryakumar Yadav. The right-hander had not been in the best of form in the last few series and this knock will definitely do him a world of good.
“Once he takes off, he just keeps going with the momentum. He knows how to get his runs in T20. It’s the best format for him. He exactly has a template which is very well suited to what is required to excel in this format. And he keeps rinsing and repeating it every time he is out on the cricket field. The fact that the captain is batting so well and taking down opponents and making sure we get home, it’s a very good sign,” said Karthik.
India will next take on Oman at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi on Friday.
