T20 World Cup: 'I enjoy batting with Virat Kohli,' says Suryakumar Yadav
Suryakumar was MoM for scoring a 51 off 25
India batsman Suryakumar Yadav has said he enjoys batting with Virat Kohli.
Surya's comments came on Thursday after India's 56-run victory over Netherlands in their Super 12 game of the T20 World Cup 2022.
Kohli and Surya put up 95 runs for the third wicket after India opted to bat at Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). Kohli remained unbeaten on 62 off 44 balls, his second consecutive half-century for India in the T20Is, while Surya scored 51 off just 25 deliveries as Inia put up 179 for 2 in 20 overs.
Surya came out to bat in the 12th over when India were 84 for 2 and he knew he had to "up the tempo at that time."
"I was just trying to express myself when I went in to bat. The situation was very simple, I just had to up the tempo at that time. I took one ball today (to get going), but the message was loud and clear. We had to get about 8-10 an over and get a total which our bowlers could defend easily," said Surya after receiving the Player of the Match award at SCG.
"Very happy with the way things went. I really enjoy batting with him [Kohli], the thoughts are very clear when we both are batting. If I get few boundaries earlier then our partnership needs to be stretched and that's what we are doing," added Surya in the same interview.
India have begun the T20 World Cup campaign on a high, having won both their opening matches. On Saturday, India defeated Pakistan by four wickets in Melbourne, where Kohli was the hero as he scored 82 not out off 53 balls.
On Thursday, Rohit returned to form as he scored his career's 29th half-century in the T20Is. The opening batsman struck three sixes and four fours in his knock of 53 off 39 before falling to Netherlands' Fred Klaassen.
T20 World Cup: 'It was a near-perfect win for us,' says Rohit Sharma
While Rohit said that he was not very happy with his fifty, he believed India secured a "clinical" victory over Netherlands in their Super 12 meeting in Sydney.
"Lucky for us, we had a few days to get over that special win. As soon as the game got over, we came to Sydney and regrouped. We have to move on now, and the focus was on this game where we wanted to come out and get those two points. I thought it was a clinical win. Looking at the way they have qualified for the Super 12s, credit to them. We however always looked to what we can do with ourselves, not bother about the opposition.
"To be honest, this was a near-perfect win. Yes, we played a little slow at the start but that was the conversation between me and Virat, we had to wait on that surface to play the big shots. Not too happy with my fifty, but what's important is getting runs - doesn't matter if they are good looking runs or ugly runs. At the end of the day, it is about keeping the confidence up," added Rohit at the post-match presentation.
In the second innings, an all-round effort from Indian bowlers helped the Men in Blue to restrict the Dutchmen at 123 for 9 in 20 overs. Fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar was certainly the best of the lost as he finished with figures of 2 for 9 in three overs. Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Arshdeep Singh also bagged two scalps each, while Mohammed Shami made a breakthrough too.
Rohit and Co have a two-day break before their big fixture against South Africa. The two sides are set to face off against each other on Sunday (Oct. 30) at Perth Stadium.