Chennai, February 27
Following his side's T20 World Cup clash win over Zimbabwe which keeps them alive in the tournament, Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav expressed that the bowling could have been a "little more clinical", but expressed happiness with a "heartening" batting display which set the tone for India's victory.
India finally unleashed their 'SKYBall' brand of T20I cricket to its fullest potential, with half-centuries from Abhishek Sharma and Hardik Pandya headlining India's highest-ever T20 World Cup total of 256/4. In reply, Brian Bennett performed exceptionally well for Zimbabwe, taking Zimbabwe to 184/6 with a magnificent 97* and Arshdeep Singh was the pick of the Indian bowlers with figures of 3/24 in four overs.
While there were no big 70s, 80s or centuries by Indian batters, each and every batter smashed at a strike rate of above 150-plus, marking the first-ever instance of top-six batters scoring 20 or more runs with a strike rate of 150-plus runs in a T20 World Cup inning.
Speaking during the post-match presentation, Suryakumar said that the team did not think too much about the humiliating 76-run loss to South Africa at Ahmedabad, which left their net-run-rate in shambles, and they wanted to "leave everything behind".
"I think we wanted to leave everything behind. We didn't think too much about what we did in the league stage or what we did in the last game in Ahmedabad. But thoroughly, we had a slide which our video analyst had made for all the batters and all the bowlers, what we did over the year. We saw that slide, took a lot of positivity from that. And when we came here, I think with contributions from all the batters from top till number seven, I think it was heartening to see," he said.
"To be very honest, we could have been a little bit more clinical with the ball, but it is fine at the end of the day. Win is a win, but we'll take it when we move forward," he added.
The Indian skipper vowed to "tighten up their screws" for the clash against the West Indies scheduled for Sunday, with the winner joining South Africa as the second semifinalist from this group. Acknowledging some shortcomings in his team's bowling, Suryakumar was appreciative of how Zimbabwe fought, led from the front by a 22-year-old Bennett.
"I do not want to take any credit away from the batters, the Zimbabwean batters. I think they batted beautifully. Yes, the wicket was good, but the way they batted, they took their own time in the powerplay, and they later on batted very smartly, and credit goes to them as well. But yeah, from the bowling point of view, we could have been a little bit smarter to take those nice options," he added.
On playing the virtual knockout match against West Indies at Eden Gardens at Kolkata, Suryakumar acknowledged the importance of "taking the positive route" and being courageous with their calls.
"When we reach Kolkata, we will definitely sit down, think about that game. But currently, a day off tomorrow, travel and relax," he signed off.
India was put to bat first by Zimbabwe and they put their highest T20 WC total of 256/4 on the board courtesy knocks from Abhishek Sharma (55 in 30 balls, with four boundaries and four sixes), Hardik Pandya (50* in 23 balls, with two fours and four sixes) and Tilak Varma (44* in 16 balls, with three fours and four sixes). In reply, Zimbabwe was valiant, posting 184/6 in 20 overs, courtesy a fine 97* in 59 balls, consisting of eight fours and six sixes by Brian Bennett and a 21-ball 31 by skipper Sikandar Raza. Arshdeep Singh (3/24) was the top wicket-taker for India.
- ANI
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