Suryakumar Yadav, the top-ranked T20I batsman, maintained his strong form in New Zealand as he smashed his second century in the shortest format of the game. India posted a staggering 191/6 on the board, riding on his unbeaten 111-run knock by Surya, which came in just 51 balls. This total helped the Men In Blue defeat the hosts in the second T20I at Mount Maunganui on Sunday. Everyone praised Suryakumar’s performance, including his colleague Virat Kohli who called it “another video game innings.”
Winning hearts on & off the field – the @surya_14kumar way! ,
Coming _ on https://t.co/Z3MPyesSeZ – a Chahal TV special – where SKY picks one fan from the stands to ask him a question _ _#TeamIndia , #NZvIND , @yuzi_chahal pic.twitter.com/tfGvsypnq3— BCCI (@BCCI) November 20, 2022
Although Suryakumar’s knock did provide that impression. He needed 32 deliveries to reach his first fifty, and in the following 17 balls, he smashed the second fifty. The batsman also unleashed some spectacular blows, blasting the ball almost everywhere on the Bay Oval. Eleven 4s and seven 6s made up his innings. During the post-match news conference, Suryakumar, who was honored as the player of the game, also responded positively to Kohli’s “videogame” allusion and went into great detail about what it’s like to bat beside him.
“Abhi recently humne kuch games khele hain saath mein, bahut achi partnership ki hain. Toh bahut maja aata hain mujhe unke saath batting karne k liye. Ek cheez hain bhagna bahut padhta hain, kyunki itne super fit hain woh. humlog jab andar hote hain, toh humlog game k barein mein jyada discuss nahi karte hain. jyada kuch bolta nahi huun. Bus main ek hi cheez bolta huun unko ‘ki aap ek side se khelte rahiye, toh phir main ek side apna batting karta rahunga’. him, but we need to run a lot because he is super fit. But at the same time when we bat together we hardly discuss our game. We respect each other and know how he plays. However, I do tell him one thing that you stand firm at one end and I’ll continue to play my shots from the other ,
Regarding Kohli’s allusion to a video game, Suryakumar added: “Usko toh main ek compliment k tarah lunga aur try karunga ki aur acha kaise kar sakun (I’ll take it as a compliment and look forward on how to improve further.)”
Suryakumar’s batting masterclass of unbeaten 111 and Deepak Hooda’s four-wicket haul helped India bundle out New Zealand for 126 runs to clinch the second match by 65 runs. “The plan was clear when I went into bat. At the 12th/13th over, we thought about batting deep and getting around 170-175 was a par score. Secret (behind his freak shots) is about the intent and you need to enjoy I’m enjoying batting this way, I’ve been doing the same thing in the nets, all practice sessions and going out [to the middle]All these things happening, I’m very happy with that,” Suryakumar said in a post-match presentation.