India vs Australia: 'He is a 360-degree kind of player', Aakash Chopra heaps praise on Suryakumar Yadav after 42-ball 80

Suryakumar Yadav was in dashing form during the first T20I between India and Australia in Vishakapatnam on Thursday, amassing a 42-ball knock of 80 to help the hosts chase down 209. And his knock has led former India batter Aakash Chopra to call him a “360-degree” player, adding that SKY plays with freedom in the shortest format. “He is a 360-degree kind of player who comes in with a reputation that makes bowlers think differently. Plan differently, have rather strange field positions because he makes you do that. He plays with freedom in the shortest format and the pitch that was there was for him to exploit because this is the kind of surface you get 9 out of 10 times in T20Is,” Aakash Chopra said on JioCinema. IND vs AUS: SKY leads from the front, Rinku Singh the finisher and other takeaways from first T20I “He comes into his own when he is batting in this format and therefore, you always saw that there was a deep fine leg in, there was a mid-on fielder inside the circle. You need those different field positions even though your plans are very different. You can think of bowling a back-of-the-hand slower one, but even while doing so, he can hit you over fine leg for a six. Then he hits you straight,” added the 46-year-old. Suryakumar would take on Jason Behrendorff on a regular basis on Thursday, and continued to play lifted shots against both Behrendorff and Nathan Ellis, eventually reaching his fifty off just 29 balls. In the 18th over, SKY looked to loft again but mistimed it as Aaron Hardie came running from mid-on to claim the catch off Behrendorff’s ball. Suryakumar is leading the side for the T20I series in injured Hardik Pandya’s absence. India were 194/5 in the 18th over when SKY departed, but Rinku Singh (22*) held his nerve despite wickets falling at the other end to guide the Men in Blue home with two wickets to spare. Suryakumar and Ishan Kishan (58) forged 112 runs for the third wicket. Ishan Kishan: How World Cup campaign helped him become better batter despite playing just two matches India lead the five-match series 1-0. The teams will next travel to Thiruvananthapuram for the second T20I on Sunday (26 November).