India managed to stay alive in the ongoing T20I series on Thursday after beating England by eight runs in the fourth match of the five-match series. Suryakumar Yadav and Shardul Thakur were the frontrunners for the hosts as India leveled the series at 2-2 with the deciding T20I set to be played on Saturday. Suryakumar, playing in only his second T20I for India, played a brilliant knock of 31-ball 57 to help India post a winning total.
Despite the fact that Shardul Thakur went for some runs, he scalped crucial wickets of Ben Stokes and Eoin Morgan, as India managed to keep England down to 177 for eight. On his T20I debut, in the second match of the series, Suryakumar didn’t get an opportunity to bat, and was then he had to miss the third T20I.
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But coming into bat at No.3 instead of Kohli in the fourth T20I, Suryakumar Yadav grabbed the chance with both hands. India’s two heroes on the night got together with each taking turns to interview one another. Talking about the game, Yadav said, “It was my dream to play for India and win matches for the national team. There were a few butterflies in my stomach but I knew if I play the first couple of balls well, things would get easier.”
An audacious first-ball six 👌
A thrilling final over 😎
A series-levelling win 👏@surya_14kumar & @imShard – two stars of #TeamIndia's win in the 4th @Paytm #INDvENG T20I – chat up. 👍👍 – By @RajalAroraWatch the full interview 🎥 👇https://t.co/sUnrwPsHVi pic.twitter.com/YV8Oc1T7m1
— BCCI (@BCCI) March 19, 2021
Suryakumar further added, “I have seen him in the IPL and international cricket. Whenever a new batsman is there, he tries to put them on the backfoot. I have played against him in the IPL, so I had an idea how he would bowl in the powerplay and in the death overs. So, I was already prepared. I have been playing this shot from my early days.”
Shardul Thakur conceded 42 runs off his four overs but picked up crucial wickets of Ben Stokes and Eoin Morgan to dent England’s chase. At the time Stokes was going great guns and threatening to tilt the balance in England’s favor. But Shardul removed him and England captain Eoin Morgan off consecutive balls to put India in control.
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Describing the same to Suryakuamr, Shardul Thakur said, “I took two wickets at that time, and then felt that we could seal the game. I was very happy after taking the wickets. Two wickets off two balls was very good for the team. In the final over, captain told me the leg side is longer and need to think of how to bowl that the batsmen hit to the longer part of the ground. Rohit Sharma was the stand-in captain, and he told me to back my plans. So, the plan was to bowl 2-3 dot balls.”
