Suryakumar Yadav's top 3 T20I knocks on a difficult pitch ft. 2024 T20 World Cup vs Afghanistan
India beat Afghanistan by 47 runs in their first game of the Super Eight stage of the ongoing ICC Men's T20 World Cup at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados on Thursday, June 20.
The Men in Blue batted first and put up a decent total of 181/8 on the board in their quota of twenty overs with middle-order batter Suryakumar Yadav playing a fascinating knock of 53 runs in just 28 deliveries.
Yadav has ended up becoming some sort of a saviour for the Indians in times of need, just as had shown in the past against the USA in the group stage in New York by helping them cross the line with ease.
On Thursday, Yadav's knock came under trying circumstances on a pitch that had a fair bit in it for the bowlers and which seemed to carry enough bite into it well into the second innings.
In this listicle, we take a look at the top 3 knocks Yadav has played on difficult pitches in T20Is.
#3 53 vs Afghanistan, 2024 T20 WC
Yadav played one of the finest knocks of his career against Afghanistan in the 2024 T20 World Cup on Thursday.
Coming in to bat at number four when India were 54-2 at the end of seven overs, Yadav weaved together brilliant partnerships with Shivam Dube and Hardik Pandya to prop the Indian score up and ended with 53 off just 28 deliveries.
The openers of the Men in Blue seemed harried by the Afghanistan seamers in the beginning, but Yadav played a reassuring knock, just like he had done against the USA in the group stage, to settle the jitters in the camp.
The Mumbai batter will be glowing with confidence after this knock on a Kensington Oval surface that was doing a fair bit.
#2 50* vs USA, T20 WC 2024
Another brilliant knock that Yadav played was against the United States of America in the group stages of the ongoing T20 World Cup.
Played at the Nassau County International Stadium in New York on a drop-in pitch that was behaving in the worst of manners at times, Yadav displayed a blinder of an innings to take the Men in Blue home.
Chasing a modest 111, India seemed to be in a spot of real bother when USA seamer Saurabh Netravalkar snapped up the wickets of openers Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli - big men with big reputations - with practically nothing on the board.
After number three Rishabh Pant was dismissed, Yadav had to build a partnership with the struggling Shivam Dube, whose feet were hardly moving when countering the swing of Netravalkar and Ali Khan.
However, Yadav stuck to his guns on a challenging surface and played a sensible innings of an unbeaten 50 off 49 balls to guide his team home with 10 balls to spare.
#1 111* vs New Zealand, 2022
Yadav, who is in the habit of making difficult knocks look easy, played another blinder against New Zealand in Mount Maunganui when India toured the country in November 2022.
The hosts won the toss and opted to field first on a surface that is historically known to do a bit when the ball is new and stop and come when it gets a tad old.
Naturally, India were a little cautious with openers Ishan Kishan and Rishabh Pant swaying against the Kiwi attack, albeit with some sensibility in their tidings.
Yadav, however, coming in at number three, completely changed the line of attack and tore into the Kiwis paying no heed at all to the swinging ball.
Experienced seamers Tim Southee, Adam Milne and Lockie Ferguson were sent on a leather hunt.
Yadav duly completed his century and ended up unbeaten on 111 off just 51 deliveries to help the Men in Blue amass 191/6 in their quota of 20 overs.
In response, Deepak Hooda blew the Kiwis away with his handy off-breaks as India bowled them out for a mere 126 with seven balls to spare.