NEW DELHI: After India registered a 3-1 victory in the T20I series against South Africa with a 30-run win in the fifth match, skipper Suryakumar Yadav candidly admitted his own struggles with the bat during the series but vowed to come back stronger in the future.Suryakumar recorded scores of 12, 5, 12 and 5 in the entire series, raising concerns about his form ahead of next year’s T20 World Cup. Despite his personal misfortune and missing a half-century, the Indian captain expressed satisfaction with the team’s overall performance in the T20Is this year.
“Perhaps the only thing we failed to do was find ‘Surya the Batter’. I think he disappeared somewhere! But he will come back stronger. As a team, I’m really happy. Whenever we had problems, someone always raised their hand and got us out of trouble. As a captain, it’s very satisfying,” he said during the post-match presentation.Reflecting on India’s approach, Suryakumar stressed the importance of sticking to a consistent style of play throughout the series.“Right from the start of the series, we wanted to stick to a particular brand of cricket and that’s exactly what we did. We didn’t try to do anything different.“We wanted to express ourselves in all departments and the results are there, in front of everyone. That’s something we lacked in our last series. That’s exactly how we wanted to hit, once someone starts, they don’t stop. We wanted that relentless intent, and today it worked wonderfully,” he said.The Indian skipper also shed light on Jasprit Bumrah’s tactical usage and praised Washington Sundar for his role with the ball in the powerplay.“Yes, we wanted to try something different. The plan was to use Bumrah in one on the powerplay, control the middle-order phase after drinks and then prepare him for the death overs.“Washi showed up brilliantly today and took responsibility. We were under pressure at times, we were challenged, but this match is about how you react and the boys did very well. It was a challenge but a very good series. We did almost everything we wanted to do,” he added.South Africa captain Aiden Markram admitted chasing 232 required a near-perfect effort, but he felt the series would be valuable in the build-up to the World Cup.“Chasing 232 was always going to require a near-perfect effort. Quinny and the top three set things up very well for us and we were right in the contest. But in the middle of the overs we just couldn’t maintain that momentum.“Yet there is much to take away: lessons we will learn as a group. With many World Cup matches played here, I am sure this experience will prove valuable. It was certainly a challenge. We were asked difficult questions.“It’s a good thing because now we have a clearer idea of what is needed if we want to win the World Cup. We faced a quality Indian team who played very well, and that’s to their credit. But we also looked inward, identified areas for improvement, and the lessons we learned over these two weeks are invaluable,” he explained.Asked if the series had brought clarity to their squad for the World Cup, Markram said: “Absolutely. At the start of the series, we did a bit of experimentation – different combinations, trying players in different roles, working out where we got the best out of each.“I think we have a lot of answers now. As the World Cup approaches, things will definitely be more structured. Whatever we do, it will be with one goal in mind: to give ourselves the best chance of winning that trophy.”
