IND vs NZ 2023: It was a challenging wicket, adapting to the situation was very important – Suryakumar Yadav

India’s talisman batter Suryakumar Yadav admitted it was a challenging wicket and adapting to the situation was very important after the hosts won the second T20I by six wickets in Lucknow on Sunday. Yadav, who is known for his blistering batting, had to play a sedate knock in the run-chase of 100 runs.

SKY scored 26 runs from 31 balls with the help of a single boundary to help India just get over the line on a difficult pitch. The 32-year-old joined forces with Rahul Tripathi after India lost Ishan Kishan’s wicket with 46 runs on the board after 8.5 overs.

It was a tough track to get going and even a stroke maker like Suryakumar Yadav found it difficult to rotate strike at regular intervals. SKY was also involved in Washington Sundar’s run-out and he admitted that it was his fault as he didn’t have any idea of where the ball was going.

Meanwhile, three runs were needed off the final two deliveries and SKY was able to clear the infield to find the boundary. Suryakumar Yadav was awarded the Player of the Match for his knock of 26 runs.

SKY said in the post-match presentation, “A different version of SKY today. Adapting to the situation was very important when I went to bat. After losing Washy, it was important for someone to take the game till the end. (On his mix-up with Washington Sundar) It was my mistake, it was definitely not a run, I didn’t see where the ball was going.”

He added, “It was a challenging wicket. We didn’t think it will turn this way in the second innings but it’s important to adapt. We just needed one hit in that over and it was very important to calm our nerves. Before we got the winning runs, he (Hardik) came and told me ‘you are going to finish on this ball’ and that gave me a lot of confidence.”

It was a tough test for the batters on the difficult pitch but India was able to get over the line by the skin of their teeth. In fact, no sixes were hit during the entire game and only 14 boundaries were scored.

The third and final T20I of the series will be played in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.