Team India began their last round-up to T20 world cup in the most ideal manner by winning the first T20 series in South Africa by an incredible margin of 101 runs. This was also a powerful win that provided India with a 1-0 lead and demonstrated how confident and balanced the team is only a few months before the world championship.
This was a difficult beginning to the bat of India who had opted to bat first. With the middle order, three wickets dropped so fast within only 48 runs but the middle order made the game change everything. Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Tilak Varma and Jitesh Sharma were very intentional and reconstructed the innings in a beautiful manner. The seventh to fifteenth over runs made India in total control and the last overs brought more strength as India hit a very difficult target of 175.
Captain Suryakumar Yadav came out in the post-match interview addressing the team mentality. He explained that he would like all the players to have no fear and enjoy their own game without thinking about the outcome. Surya states that a team consists of seven to eight good batters and some of them not so good only on a bad day does not influence the team overall result since others on the team can play the blame game. He had the idea that this match was precisely that and it would happen the next time that somebody will step up.
Another bowler that Suryakumar admired was Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah as he explained that these are the two bowlers he would have given the new ball. As the South Africa won the toss and chose the option of bowling first, both the Indian pacers utilized the initial conditions and placed the opposition under immediate pressure.
Hardik Pandya, who was back after a considerable time off due to an injury, was the biggest star in India on the night. He hit a 59 out of a total of 28 balls without being beaten and in the process also got a wicket by giving only 16 runs in two overs. He was declared the Player of the Month, however, Surya confessed that he was cautious when passing Hardik the ball since he did not want to have any injury related setback.
Surya applauded the team on how it was able to come out strongly even after collapsing initially. It was a big accomplishment getting 175 after starting at 48, and this was then topped by the fact that the total was defended by clever bowling and various alternatives, thus making the Title even more memorable. The overall play of India was a strong signal that the team is well prepared and it can handle greater challenges in the future.
