Bengaluru: India skipper Suryakumar Yadav, who led the national side for the first time, credited his young team for not just showing calm and composure but also for nailing the crucial moments of the game, in the five-match T20 series against Australia. India won the five-match series against Australia 4-1. They defeated Australia in the fifth T20 at M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday.
"It's a nice feeling. On top of that as a captain, feeling pleased. We got some great support from the staff and players as well," Suryakumar Yadav told BCCI.tv.
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Feeling of Maiden series win as Captain 🏆
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 4, 2023 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
Backing last-over hero Arshdeep 👊
Message for fans 🤗
Skipper SKY heaps praises on #TeamIndia's impressive all-round performance after an entertaining Bengaluru thriller!
Full video 📽️ By @28anand | #INDvAUS https://t.co/YQAvB3lGil pic.twitter.com/XlVEttb1mQ
">Feeling of Maiden series win as Captain 🏆
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 4, 2023
Backing last-over hero Arshdeep 👊
Message for fans 🤗
Skipper SKY heaps praises on #TeamIndia's impressive all-round performance after an entertaining Bengaluru thriller!
Full video 📽️ By @28anand | #INDvAUS https://t.co/YQAvB3lGil pic.twitter.com/XlVEttb1mQFeeling of Maiden series win as Captain 🏆
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 4, 2023
Backing last-over hero Arshdeep 👊
Message for fans 🤗
Skipper SKY heaps praises on #TeamIndia's impressive all-round performance after an entertaining Bengaluru thriller!
Full video 📽️ By @28anand | #INDvAUS https://t.co/YQAvB3lGil pic.twitter.com/XlVEttb1mQ
Speaking about the planning for the last over to go with left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh, Surya revealed, "Pajji (Arshdeep Singh) executed the same what I asked him to do. But yeah, I have seen him bowling in nervous situations in franchise cricket and that was the reason I kept his overs in hand for the last over. I had also told the bowlers to keep 10-12 runs for the final over to put them (Australia) under pressure."
"There is a prototype that T20 cricket is a batting game and quite harsh for bowlers, but as per my experience, batters win you matches but bowlers help you win the series. (Spinners) Axar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi, have done the same for us. They were trying different things in every match. Axar has won the back-to-back Man of the Match awards which is a huge thing as a player while as we all know, Bishnoi has been doing great for a long time and importantly, despite having a bad first game, making a comeback and winning the Man of the Series award, he showed his class," added Suryakumar Yadav, who plays for domestic giants Mumbai.
"Whenever you win the series, you tend to forget a lot of things, but my learnings are different. When we win the series, we want to see what we were lacking and what we can do better and move forward, so we will sit, we will chat again, and we will recharge and will see you in South Africa," Suryakumar added on their learnings from the series.
Yadav became the only second Indian to win the Player of the Match award on his T20I captaincy debut. Notably, pacer Jasprit Bumrah was the first Indian skipper to achieve the feat against Ireland earlier this year.
Surya said that the team wanted to play fearless cricket in the series. "Yeah, I think, I mean, it was a good series in the end. To win it 4-1, I think, the boys have done well. We wanted to be fearless and I told them to play freely as they would normally," Suryakumar Yadav said in the post-match presentation.
Earlier, put into bat, vice-captain Shreyas Iyer slammed a half-century, and wicket-keeper Jitesh Sharma and all-rounder Axar Patel played cameos to help India post a defendable total. In reply, Ben McDermott scored a dogged fifty to keep Australia in the match until Arshdeep Singh sent him back on the last ball of the 15th over. Skipper Matthew Wade tried to give final flourishes but fell on the third ball of the last over bowled by left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh, who conceded only three runs to lead India to a win.
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