3 min learnFeb 8, 2026 01:49 PM IST
Suryakumar Yadav scored 52.17% of India’s runs in opposition to USA on the opening night time of T20 World Cup, bailing the defending champions out of a severely worrying scenario. His 84* off 49 balls was by a ways the very best batting effort on the night time and the distinction between two sides, as India went from 77/6 to posting 161. And former India spinner Ashwin Ravichandran highlighted one particular side of Suryakumar’s sport that has returned after a lean section in 2025: the runs he scored behind the wicket.
Firstly, Ashwin applauded USA for coming ready with the best plans on an typical Wankhede Stadium wicket, and that included maintaining Suryakumar quiet early on.
“Shadley van Schalkwyk wasn’t categorical tempo, he was utilizing his cutters and variations. Normally, after we watch IPL matches at Wankhede, we’re not used to seeing these type of deliveries work. Completely don’t work. However the ball was sticking on the wicket, and so they got here with good plans for Surya clearly. They had been taking the tempo off, and so they had been making an attempt to maintain it very straight. USA got here ready very effectively for many of the Indian batters,” Ashwin stated on his YouTube channel ‘Ash ki baat’.
After that, utilizing a graphical breakdown of Suryakumar’s innings, Ashwin highlighted a few takeaways on how the Indian captain made the many of the circumstances. Surya’s phase-wise domination confirmed he scored 45 off 31 balls within the center overs even when India struggled to get going, after which exploded with 38 off 16 balls within the dying overs.
“Saurabh Netravalkar was USA’s finest bowler within the final World Cup, and SKY took him on. And the runs that Netravalkar conceded… that was the one factor that gave India a little bit of consolation. And 37% of Surya’s runs had been scored behind the wicket. It was a 360-degree masterclass. That is the one space the place many of the groups have been in a position to limit SKY’s run-getting. That’s now again into his sport, as a result of he took his time on the crease. What a captain’s knock he performed. It was completely great. The strike price in opposition to a left-arm pacer like Nethravalkar was ekdum No 1. Left-armers typically have the knack of troubling most batters,” Ashwin defined.
As Suryakumar additionally talked about after the match, 2025 was powerful for him however switching off for a bit on the finish of the season after South Africa collection helped him recharge and return to type. “We all know how testing the final one yr was for Surya, the batter, however he’s effectively and really again,” Ashwin added.
The spin-bowling stalwart additionally famous one space of concern for India, as they slumped to 77/6 after shedding 4 wickets throughout the powerplay. “It was surprsing that, after the primary 2-3 wickets fell, India didn’t adapt the best means and didn’t learn the pitch effectively. If India had predicted that this wicket is cheesy and never the standard Wankhede pitch, India might have been conservative, held up wickets and ultimately captialised on the finish, the way in which SKY batted on the finish. India might have ended up with 20-30 runs extra. However I felt 160 was defendable.”