"He's the best bowler in the world" Suryakumar Yadav reveals plans against Rashid Khan after match-winning fifty in AFG vs IND match

Suryakumar Yadav scored 16 runs off six balls against Rashid Khan in the AFG vs IND Super 8 match.

Suryakumar Yadav starred with the bat for India in their victory over Afghanistan in their Super 8 encounter in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in Barbados. His takedown of the Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan, who Suryakumar hailed as the “best [T20] bowler in the world, was outstanding and also audacious.

Rashid took three of India’s first four wickets, but Yadav remained confident in going after the leg-spinner. The India star came out trumps over the ace Afghan spinner by smashing him for 16 runs off six balls, including two fours and a stunning slog-sweep six.

India found themselves in precarious positions at 62/3 and then 90/4 with Rashid on a roll. However, Suryakumar and Hardik Pandya conjured a crucial partnership of 60 (37), with SKY whacking 33 runs in 18 deliveries in this stand. Their stand assisted heavily in India reaching 181, which proved to be 47 more runs than what Afghanistan managed to score.

You have to be a step ahead: Suryakumar Yadav on battle with Rashid Khan

Speaking after bagging the Player of the Match award, Suryakumar reflected on his plans and approach to tackling Rashid, explaining that he needs to be thinking forward against the best T20 bowler in the world.

He said, “When I play, I’m very clear in my mind what I want to do. When he [Rashid] bowls, it’s very difficult to pick him. I know what shots to play when I am inside. He’s the best bowler in the world. You can’t let him dominate. You have to be a step ahead.”

Even though it was a slow pitch and India were in a tricky situation at 90/4, Suryakumar revealed he told Hardik to continue batting with intent as it could become even more difficult later in the innings when the ball started to reverse.

“When Hardik came into bat, I told him we need to bat with the same intent, let’s not leave it too much till the end. It would’ve been difficult with the ball reversing. I just told him let’s keep pressing the pedal and see where we are at the end of 16 overs. Glad we got to 180,” the number 1 ranked ICC men’s T20I batter explained.

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