"That just got him off" - Former India bowler on Suryakumar Yadav's knock in AUS vs IND 2025 1st T20I

Former India seamer Varun Aaron has opined that Suryakumar Yadav's knock in the first T20I against Australia would give him a lot of confidence. He noted that the unconventional batter's six off Josh Hazlewood's bowling gave him the required momentum.

Suryakumar scored an unbeaten 39 off 24 deliveries in the first T20I between India and Australia in Canberra on Wednesday, October 29. The match didn't yield a result as rain stopped play when India were 97/1 in 9.4 overs after being asked to bat first.

During an interaction on the Star Sports show 'Follow the Blues,' Aaron was asked about his thoughts on Suryakumar's knock in Wednesday's game.

"I think this will give him a lot of confidence. No matter how big a batter, we saw it with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the ODI series, where you have scored almost 15,000 ODI runs, but when you don't get runs, suddenly you feel like you can't hit a single boundary. Suryakumar was averaging 11 before he came into this innings, and he has batted just like Suryakumar Yadav," the former RCB pacer responded. "That first shot against Josh Hazlewood was just a statement shot because the previous ball, most batsmen after getting a ball like that, to which he was beaten all ends up, would be a bit cautious and try and take a safe route, but Suryakumar Yadav did what he does best. That was an unbelievable six. That just got him off," he added.

Varun Aaron noted that rain played spoilsport as Suryakumar Yadav seemed headed to a huge score when he was taking Nathan Ellis to the cleaners. The Indian captain had smashed the Aussie seamer for two fours and a six off the first three balls of the tenth over.

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"The surety was being seen in the footwork" - Parthiv Patel on Suryakumar Yadav's inning in AUS vs IND 2025 1st T20I

Suryakumar Yadav struck three fours and two sixes during his unbeaten 39-run knock. [P/C: Getty]

Speaking on Star Sports, former India wicketkeeper-batter Parthiv Patel noted that Suryakumar Yadav looked assured in his footwork after hitting Josh Hazlewood for a six off the fourth ball he faced.

"When you get one of your favorite shots at the start, which Suryakumar got here, the shot he played off Hazlewood's bowling, after that, although no runs came off two balls, it seemed like the footwork had almost returned. The surety was being seen in the footwork," he said.

The cricketer-turned-commentator added that Matthew Kuhnemann's defensive field settings also helped Suryakumar's cause.

"After that, when Kuhnemann came to bowl, he hadn't bowled even his first ball and had kept the cover fielder back. It means the thought process was defensive. When such big players know that the bowler is bowling only with a defensive thought process, then you can attack," Parthiv observed.

To conclude, Parthiv Patel expressed surprise about Australia's game plan against Suryakumar Yadav. He highlighted that the hosts had kept two fielders in the deep on the leg side and were bowling on the Indian captain's legs, pointing out that the boundary dimensions don't matter when the ball is in that area.

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Edited by Kartik Iyer