India national cricket team captain Suryakumar Yadav has revealed why he did not use key all-rounder Hardik Pandya with the new ball in the opening match of the T20 series against the South Africa national cricket team.
Suryakumar Yadav said he was managing Hardik Pandya as he recently returned from injury and knew that the fast bowling duo of Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh would do the job with the new ball.
India bowled out South Africa for 74 runs.
The Men in Blue lost the toss and were invited to bat first in the first match of the T20 series at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack. India made good use of the conditions and posted a huge score of 175/6 on the board.
The Indian team looked completely dominant with the ball and bowled out the opposition for 74 runs in 12.3 overs. Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakraborty, Jasprit Bumrah and Axar Patel took two wickets each while Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dubey took one wicket each.
Also read: Jasprit Bumrah’s 100th T20I wicket came on a no-ball!! Dewald Brevis’ dismissal sparks controversy
Sub-100 all-out totals for South Africa in T20Is
74 vs India, Cuttack, 2025
87 vs India, Rajkot, 2022
89 vs Australia, Johannesburg, 2020
95 vs India, Johannesburg, 2023
96 vs Australia, Cape Town, 2020
98 vs SL, Colombo (RPS), 2018
During the post-match presentation ceremony, India captain Suryakumar Yadav said that he was happy with the team’s performance. He said:
“I said at the toss we were 50-50, but were very happy to bat first. I mean, absolutely. 48 for 3, and then to get to 175 from there… The way Hardik batted, Axar batted, Tilak batted and finally Jitesh came in, contributed and played his part, I think it was very important.
Maybe in the next game you will see someone else covering it – Suryakumar Yadav
Suryakumar Yadav further said that not all the batsmen of the team will perform well every day and there will be special performing players who will perform better. He said:
“Earlier, we thought we would reach 160, but then 175 was unbelievable. I mean, absolutely. Look, with 7-8 batsmen, there will be days when 2-3 batsmen will not have their day, but then the other 4 batsmen will cover it and they covered it today.
“Maybe in the next game you see someone else covering it. That’s the way T20 cricket works and that’s the way we want everyone to play. We want everyone to be fearless and enjoy their batting. India are performing brilliantly.”
I think Arshdeep and Bumrah were the right bowlers to bowl initially – Suryakumar Yadav
Suryakumar Yadav directly fielded Hardik Pandya in the 7th over and used Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh with the new ball. Talking about this decision he said:
“I think Arshdeep and Bumrah were the right bowlers to bowl in the beginning. The way they were bowling first after winning the toss, the way they were bowling the new ball, I think Arshdeep and Bumrah were better options. But then later on, it was important to take care of Hardik who came back from injury. And I am very happy with the way they bowled.”
“I mean, batting first, getting 48 for 3 and then getting around 90-91 from 7 to 15, and then getting 40-44 in the last five overs to get to 175… I think that was really commendable. The way we bowled, the number of options we had, I think 175 was pretty good.”
