Suryakumar dismisses rivalry talk
Suryakumar Yadav brushed aside the idea that India vs Pakistan is still a cricketing rivalry. After India’s latest win against Pakistan in the Asia Cup Super Four, he was asked if Pakistan had raised their standards compared to the first match.
“I would like to say one thing on this question. I feel that you should stop asking this question on the rivalry,” Suryakumar said before clarifying further.
He added:
“𝑰𝒇 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒔 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 15-20 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒊𝒔 7-7 𝒐𝒓 8-7, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒚. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 13-0 𝒐𝒓 10-1, 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒂 𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆. 𝑾𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒚 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕.”
India have now beaten Pakistan seven times in a row in men’s internationals since their last loss at the 2022 Asia Cup in Dubai.
The turning point of the game
Suryakumar also highlighted what he thought was the decisive phase of the match – Pakistan at 91 for 1 after 10 overs, their best-ever halfway score against India in T20Is.
“According to me, the turning point was in the first drinks break in the first innings,” he explained. “After that, our bowlers changed their line and length, added energy, and completely slowed Pakistan down.”
Between overs 10 and 17, Pakistan managed just 38 runs, the lowest tally by any side in this tournament during that phase.
Shivam Dube’s big contribution
While Jasprit Bumrah had an uncharacteristically expensive outing (4-0-45-0), allrounder Shivam Dube stepped up with a crucial spell.
“𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒊𝒎. 𝑯𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒐𝒘𝒍 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍 𝒒𝒖𝒐𝒕𝒂,” 𝑺𝒖𝒓𝒚𝒂𝒌𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒓 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅.
Dube finished with 2 for 33, dismissing Saim Ayub and Sahibzada Farhan, and breaking Pakistan’s strong 72-run stand. His effort helped India maintain their dominance in yet another clash with Pakistan.
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