After his team defeated a helpless New Zealand in the third Twenty20 International in Guwahati to take an assailable lead in the five-match series, captain Suryakumar Yadav declared that India will continue to play the bold and aggressive brand of cricket.
Suryakumar wants India to keep dominating the Kiwis in this series thanks in large part to the punishing willow of Abhishek Sharma and the presence of pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah.
“This is the brand of cricket which we want to play, irrespective of our batting first or chasing. Of course, for example, if we are 24 for 3 or 44 for 4 tomorrow, we know how to bat,” PTI quoted Suryakumar as saying after India completed the chase of 154 in just 10 overs.
Leading India’s fierce chase with a 20-ball 68, Abhishek acknowledged that it was difficult to bat at the same pace all the time, but he is glad to do it for the country.
“That’s what my team wants from me and I just want to execute all the time. But obviously, it’s not easy to do it every time, but I think it’s all about mental as well and the atmosphere you get around your dressing room as well,” said Abhishek.
Only two balls separated the left-hander’s 14-ball fifty from his mentor Yuvraj Singh’s record of 12 balls.
When asked if he is attempting to surpass his mentor, Abhishek said, “That’s more than impossible for anyone (to break Yuvraj’s record), but still, you never know. Any batsman could do it because I think all the batters have been batting really well in this series and going forward, it’s going to be fun.”
The 25-year-old claimed that he wasn’t really pre-mediated in his aggressive strokeplay.
“I wouldn’t say it’s like I want to go from the first ball. It’s just the instinct I get in between the wickets. I think about the bowler if he wants to get out on my first ball, then what he could bowl to me and that’s always there in my mind and I just want to play on that ball,” Abhishek said.
