So astonished by Suryakumar Yadav’s belligerent innings against Hong Kong on Wednesday, Virat Kohli said he was “completely blown away” while watching SKY’s magic unfurl from the other end.
While KL Rahul and Virat Kohli struggled to come to terms with the pace of the tacky Dubai surface, Suryakumar Yadav played as if he was batting on another pitch, or didn’t care how challenging stroke-making was, especially for a new batsman.
He came into bat after KL Rahul’s dismissal, India at 94/2 at the 13-over mark. With no need of any sighters, SKY swept his first two balls for fours and had hit 4 fours and a six in his first 10 balls to get going.
From thereon, it was mayhem. Suryakumar Yadav shared a 98-run unbroken stand with Kohli in 42 balls, out of which he smashed 68* off only 26 balls to take India to 192.
After the match, Kohli and Suryakumar interviewed for the BCCI where the former India skipper gushed in praise for the 31-year-old.
“It’s my honour to interview SKY today who played an outstanding knock which I enjoyed thoroughly from the other end. I have seen so many from distance when he has played IPL against us or that been done to a lot of teams when you play for India. But this was my first experience of watching it very closely. I was completely blown away,” Kohli told Yadav in an interview on BCCI.tv.
“I honestly believe that the way you played today, if you can stay in that zone, you can literally change the complexion of the game against any team in the world.”
In his response to Kohli’s praise, Yadav told Kohli that he loves batting with him knowing that the veteran batter turns up the heat after having faced 30 balls. Kohli was on 33 when SKY joined him in the middle and ended up with 59* from 44 balls, also coming back to form with his first fifty after the IPL ended.
“Firstly, I love batting with him. I knew I needed you there. When you bat 30-35 balls, your next ten balls, you bat with a strike rate of 200-250. So it was important for me that you stayed there so that I bat freely,” Suryakumar responded.
Suryakumar Yadav could have equalled Yuvraj Singh’s 6 sixes record
In the 20th over of India’s innings, SKY smashed 4 sixes to Haroon Arshad. Kohli asked SKY, “You hit four sixes in the last over. You feel like you could have targeted six and become only the second Indian to do so? [after Yuvraj Singh]” To which Suryakumar sweetly replied, “I was trying my best but let’s not get past Yuvi pa.”
You can watch the video here:
Of two stellar knocks, a dominating partnership, mutual admirations & much more 💥👌
𝐃𝐨 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬 – Half-centurions @imVkohli & @surya_14kumar chat up after #TeamIndia‘s win against Hong Kong 👍 – by @ameyatilak
Full interview📽️👇 #AsiaCup2022 https://t.co/Hyle2h3UBQ pic.twitter.com/39Ol62g2Qf
— BCCI (@BCCI) September 1, 2022
