Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav hailed Ruturaj Gaikwad after the opener scored a scintillating knock of 123 runs off just 57 balls against Australia in the third T20I at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati on Tuesday.

However, Gaikwad’s heroics went in vain as India lost by five wickets after Glenn Maxwell scored a blistering knock of 104 runs off just 48 balls.

Meanwhile, Gaikwad got off to a sedate start as he scored at run-a-ball for the first 20 balls. However, he was able to change gears during the middle overs and became the first Indian batter to score a T20I century against Australia.

The flamboyant batter timed the ball to perfection and scored 13 fours and seven sixes in his whirlwind knock. Gaikwad played a key role in helping India post 222 runs on the board but it was not enough in the end as Australia chased down the score to stay alive in the series.

Gaikwad batted at his absolute best and added 141 runs with Tilak Varma. In fact, the left-hander contributed only 31 runs and thus the lion’s share of the scoring was done by Gaikwad.

“Fantastic. I mean, the way Ruturaj batted after I got out, he took the inning deep. I’ve always said during franchise cricket as well, that he is a special player. And the way he batted, he showed it, but yeah, at the end. Very proud of my boys,” Suryakumar said in the post-match presentation.

Yadav revealed that their plan was to dismiss Glenn Maxwell early but they could not do that and the Australian all-rounder took the game away from them with his insane batting. In fact, Australia needed 43 runs in the last two overs but Axar Patel and Prasidh Krishna could not hit the right areas.

“Just to get Maxi (Maxwell) out quickly. I think that was the plan, but yeah, I mean, when you’re defending 200-210 with so much dew I think you got to give something to the bowlers. They lost wickets early on, so they couldn’t reach the end, but with the wickets in hand for them and then for 220, I think they were always in the game,” said Suryakumar.

The fourth T20I between India and Australia will be played at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, Raipur on Friday.