Arguably the finest T20 batter in the Indian cricket team at present, Suryakumar Yadav looked in top form once again as Rohit Sharma's men took on Western Australia in a practice match at the WACA. Gearing up for the T20 World Cup, the Indian team is set to play a few practice contests, including one each against Australia and New Zealand, before the showpiece event begins. On Monday, it was Suryakumar Yadav's heroics with the bat that inspired India to a victory.
At the top, it was Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant who opened the innings for India, scoring 3 and 9 respectively. After their early exit, Deepak Hooda showed a few good hits, scoring 22 runs off 14 balls before failed to convert his start into a big score.
Suryakumar Yadav then took charge of India's innings in his own hands, scoring 52 runs off 35 balls while Hardik Pandya also gave him good company (27 runs off 20 balls). Though the match wasn't aired on any TV channel or streaming platform, a fragment of a video from Surya's batting has surfaced, showing the kind of shots he hit during his stay at the crease.
Here's the video:
After Suryakumar and Hardik's departure, Dinesh Karthik scored an unbeaten 19 off 23 balls while Axar Patel (10 off 5) and Harshal Patel (5 off 4) also contributed a little to the overall total of 158 runs.
Defending the total, India restricted Western Australia to 145 runs, hence securing a 13-run victory. Yuzvendra Chahal (2 for 15) and Bhunvheshwar Kumar (2 for 26) were the picks of the bowlers for the Indian team.
Team India reached Australia a few days ago after securing wins over Australia and South Africa in the respective T20I series. The objective at present remains to adapt to the conditions in Australia quickly and get into the best possible form for the T20 World Cup.