Suryakumar Yadav speaks about Arshdeep Singh, impact of bowlers and first win as captain

India successfully withstood onslaught from Matthew Wade, as they sealed the fifth T20 international to conclude the Australia series at 4-1. Despite the visitors initially appearing well-placed for a consolation win with captain Wade taking on the bowlers, Arshdeep Singh, returning to the XI for this match, delivered a superb final over in Bengaluru to thwart their efforts. The pitch was a tacky one for both sets of batters and the bowlers had enough assistance in the surface to keep landing on a length and posing plenty of questions. India were in the hunt, but Wade turned it around when facing Avesh Khan, he struck three consecutive boundaries, narrowing the equation to 15 runs off 12 balls. As Wade marched on, the ask narrowed down to 11 runs off 8 balls, firmly placing Australia in control. However, Arshdeep delivered the perfect final over, much to the delight and satisfaction of his captain Suryakumar Yadav. “I have seen Arshdeep executing in such situations in franchise cricket and hence, saved his over for the last. I’ve discussed with the bowlers that if there are 10-12 runs required in the last over, we need to execute 1-2 deliveries perfectly to reverse the pressure,” Surya said in a video posted by BCCI.

Feeling of Maiden series win as Captain 🏆
Backing last-over hero Arshdeep 👊
Message for fans 🤗

Skipper SKY heaps praises on #TeamIndia's impressive all-round performance after an entertaining Bengaluru thriller!

Full video 📽️ By @28anand | #INDvAUS https://t.co/YQAvB3lGil pic.twitter.com/XlVEttb1mQ

— BCCI (@BCCI) December 4, 2023

Surya also hailed the impact of his bowlers and how they kept bouncing back from tough situations right throughout the series. “Everyone says T20 is a batter’s game and it is extremely harsh on bowlers. However, I feel batters win you games, but bowlers win series. This has been the pattern since game 1,” Surya added. The captain praised his spinners Ravi Bishnoi and Axar Patel for being the difference between the two sides right throughout the series. “Axar took back-to-back Man of the Match awards, which is huge. Bishnoi has always been a good performer. He made a great comeback after a not-so-good first game - showed first-class character,” the captain further added. Surya, who will also lead the T20 side in South Africa, stressed on the importance to sit down and reflect on learnings even after a series win. “Feeling great to win a series, more so as a captain. A new angle in life, great support from players and support staff. Whenever you win a series, you tend to forget a lot of things, but I want to look at what we were lacking. We will sit and chat about things,” he added.