Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav has revealed they wanted to be fearless after their convincing series win of 4-1 against Australia. The home team won the final game of the five-match series by six runs after they successfully defended 160 runs.
Yadav revealed he wanted his players to express themselves on the field and they were able to grab their opportunities. Meanwhile, India posted 160 runs after Shreyas Iyer scored 53 runs whereas Axar Patel and Jitesh Sharma added the finishing touches with 31 and 24 runs respectively.
On the other hand, Indian bowlers were right on the money in their execution. Arshdeep Singh and Ravi Bishnoi scalped two wickets whereas Mukesh Kumar was the pick of the bowlers as he returned with impressive figures of 3-32 in his quota of four overs. Kumar accounted for Matthew Short and Ben Dwarshius on consecutive deliveries in the 17th over and it was the turning point of the game.
Furthermore, Arshdeep Singh was able to defend 10 runs in the final over as he conceded only three runs and dismissed Australian skipper Matthew Wade.
Suryakumar Yadav said in the post-match presentation, “It was a good series. The way the boys showed their skills was commendable. We wanted to be fearless, we wanted to enjoy when we were in the middle. I told them, “do whatever is right and just enjoy your game,” and they did the same. So very happy with that.”
He added, “If he (Washington Sundar) would have been there it’d have been an add-on. At Chinnaswamy, 200+ is easier to chase. 160-175 is a tricky told here. After 10 overs, I told the boys that we have a game on.”
India was able to come up with a collective effort throughout the series. The young players were able to grab their opportunities with both hands and this performance must have given them a lot of confidence.
India will now tour South Africa for three T20Is, as many ODIs, and two Test matches.
