Gautam Gambhir credits Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav with making Virat Kohli's job easier
Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir appears to be highly impressed by Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav's knocks in the 5th T20I against England.
He credited this duo for making Virat Kohli's job easier by scoring the difficult runs during the innings. Gambhir added that England wasn't in control at any stage during the Indians' innings.
"I’m not going to take anything away from Virat Kohli, but then he had people like Suryakumar Yadav. There wasn’t a single phase in these 20 overs where England was in control," Gautam Gambhir told ESPNCricinfo.
The left-handed opener was of the opinion that it is tough to score runs in the phase right after the powerplay. According to Gambhir, Suryakumar Yadav's knock at that stage set the platform for the others to go big as he continued to apply pressure on the English bowlers with his knock and gave them no respite.
"There have been times when a team gets off to a flyer; six overs, 60 runs. But there is a phase after those six overs, where the other team tries to push back. But if you see Suryakumar Yadav’s innings, if you can get that 30-odd off 17 balls and you can continue that same momentum, it’s always difficult," noted Gambhir.
Gautam Gambhir thinks it was easier for Virat Kohli to accelerate as he was well-set
Gautam Gambhir applauded Hardik Pandya for attacking right from the start of his innings. He felt it was much easier for Virat Kohli to also do this as he was already well-set and had spent some time in the middle.
"It’s easy for Virat Kohli because he’s been in and he’s batted for six overs. With Hardik Pandya coming in and playing at that tempo, it’s a different ball game," said Gautam Gambhir.
Yes, Kohli batted throughout and you expect Virat to do that. If he bats through, he will get a strike rate of probably 140. But then it’s those difficult runs which I was talking about, how important it is after six overs. So what they Surya and Hardik did was commendable," Gautam Gambhir added.