Flamboyant India and Mumbai Indians batman Suryakumar Yadav, who made his international debut against England, recalled being nervous on the momentous day but a simple advice to self calmed him down.
The IPL 2021 just about provided enough - having reached the half-wark mark in the league stage with 29 completed games - to learn how India's T20 World Cup hopefuls fared in the competitions.
Yadav, along with skipper Rohit Sharma, have been the most consistent batsmen for MI this season, but they lacked support from the other players in the batting order.
On the penultimate delivery of the 10th over bowled by pacer Pat Cummins, Suryakumar flicked it over deep square leg for a gigantic maximum at Chepauk.
Even after a stupendous last IPL for MI, Suryakumar didn't make it to the Australia tour but grabbed his opportunity with three great knocks in the T20 Internationals against England.
The trio will have to undergo a mandatory period of seven days of quarantine before they can begin their preparation for the tournament.
India have been dealt a major blow as in-form Shreyas Iyer has been ruled out of the remainder of the series with a dislocated shoulder. As India look to gain an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the three-match series, they will now have the option of playing Suryakumar Yadav or Shubman Gill in the middle order.
The 22-year-old Ishan and Suryakumar, 30, made dream starts to their international careers in the T20I series against England earlier this month.
Kohli opened for the eighth time in T20Is and first since 2018 in the fifth and final T20I match against England on Saturday and scored an unbeaten 80, his highest from that position, surpassing his previous best of 70* scored in 2012 in Chennai.
West Indies' Ian Bishop lauded the Indian batsman for his impressive display during the T20I series against England.
Suryakumar, batting on 32, picked Adil Rashid's googly to loft the ball towards long-on. However, Jordan was quick enough to reach the spot.
Having outsmarted England in challenging conditions, a confident India will back themselves to win the series-decider here on Saturday and take another firm step towards finalising their core for the T20 World Cup. India will now be hoping K L Rahul fires at the top, having showed some form in the previous game following scores of 1, 0, 0.
The BCCI on Friday announced India's ODI squad for the upcoming three-match series against England. Suryakumar Yadav, who enjoyed a brilliant outing in his maiden T20I innings on Thursday, earned a maiden call-up to the ODI squad, and so did pacer Prasidh Krishna and all-rounder Krunal Pandya.
Shardul, who bowled the final over, said that stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma wanted him to back his plans and try to execute them.
Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan, who play for Mumbai Indians in the IPL, have produced stunning knocks against England in the ongoing T20 series.
His terrific innings in only his second international outing was cut short by a controversial dismissal, but Suryakumar Yadav took it on his chin, saying few things are "not in my control". He smashed a blistering 57 off 31 balls to set up India's series-levelling eight-run win against England in the fourth T20I.
Suryakumar Yadav scored 57 off 31 deliveries but the catch to dismiss the batsman remained a point of dispute for many.
Pace bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/30) and Hardik Pandya (2/16) put in an inspirational performance, using change of pace to good effect, to power India to an eight-run victory in 4th T20I against England.
Following India's eight-run victory, Kohli also heaped praise on Suryakumar and Hardik for their clinical performance.
Invited to bat first, India scored 185 for eight in the stipulated 20 overs, with Suryakumar Yadav (57) and Shreyas Yadav (37) doing the bulk of scoring at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
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