Suryakumar Yadav's maiden international fifty followed by an economical bowling display from Hardik Pandya helped India clinch the fourth T20I against England by a narrow margin of eight runs on Thursday.
Suryakumar, who hit Jofra Archer for a six in the first ball he faced in international cricket, struck six fours and three sixes in his 31-ball 57 to top score for India.
After Suryakumar's departure, it was Shreyas Iyer's 37 off 18 balls that powered 185/8 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. In reply, England were stopped at 177 for eight in their full quota of overs.
While Hardik picked two while conceding just 16 runs in his spell, Shardul Thakur ended up with figures of 3/42. India skipper Virat Kohli heaped praise on Suryakumar and Hardik for their clinical performance.
"Special mention to Surya, he batted outstandingly well in his first game. Similar to Ishan. They are quite fearless having played in the IPL. We don't have any T20Is after this so I want the guys to be confident and come out of it very strongly. With the ball we were quite clinical," he said.
Kohli also revealed the reason behind his absence from the field during the last few years. " I ran for a ball and threw it and I just aggrevated my leg a little bit and I didn't want to make it into a niggle or an injury. We have another game in two days and I took the smart decision of going out," he said.
The winning skipper also commented on the much-debated third umpire call in the game. Suryakumar was given out after not finding 'conclusive evidence' to rule against the 'soft signal'.
"There was an instance during the Test series when I was next to Jinks and he clearly caught the ball but he wasn't sure so we went upstairs. If it is a half and half effort and the fielder is in doubt, there is no way the umpire from the square leg can see it clearly.
"The soft signal becomes that important and it becomes tricky. I don't know why there can't be an 'I don't know' call with the umpires as well. It is similar to the umpire's call as well. These are decisions that can change the course of the game, especially in these big games. We were on the receiving side today, and tomorrow it could be some other team," he said.
