IND vs USA: 'Showed maturity' - Rohit Sharma's ultimate praise for Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube after victory over USA

The Rohit Sharma-led India National Cricket Team played their third match of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 against the Aaron Jones-led United States of America National Cricket Team on Wednesday, June 12, at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York.

This was the first time in the history of cricket that the India National Cricket Team and the United States of America National Cricket Team locked horns with each other in any format.

The Men In Blue entered the match high on confidence, having beaten the Pakistan National Cricket Team in a thriller at the same venue. It was a great performance from India, especially from the bowlers, as they managed to bag a 6-run victory despite scoring just 119 runs in the first innings.

Notably, India were on their way to a total in excess of 140 but a horrible batting show in the second half of the innings didn't let that happen. In the first 10 overs, they posted 81/3 and the story completely changed after that as they got bowled out inside 19 overs and scored just 38 runs in that phase.

The Indian bowlers were under pressure to deliver in the second innings and they dazzled. The start wasn't the best one for the Rohit Sharma-led side as they got just one wicket inside the powerplay. But they made the run-scoring slow and took the game deep. Then, Jasprit Bumrah bowled two unbelievable overs and it eventually sealed the game for the 1-time T20 World Cup champions as Pakistan were restricted to 113/7 in their 20 overs.

Credit to us for the way we held our nerve and got that partnership - Rohit Sharma 

Coming back to the IND vs USA clash, India won the toss and chose to bowl first. It was a terrific show from the bowling unit and the MVP of the innings was Arshdeep Singh with his exceptional bowling figures of 4/9 as India restricted USA to a modest total of 110/8.

When it came to the run-chase, India were off to a horrible start as Virat Kohli (0) and Rohit Sharma (3) were back in the hut inside 3 overs. Rishabh Pant (18) also failed to score big, but Suryakumar Yadav (50*) showed his class and along with Shivam Dube (31*) steered India to a 7-wicket win.

Speaking after the match, Rohit Sharma credited Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube for showing maturity and taking India past the finish line. Rohit Sharma said:

"Knew it would be tough. Credit to us for the way we held our nerve and got that partnership. Credit to Surya and Dube for showing the maturity and taking us through. 

Talking about the Indian-origin USA cricketers, Rohit Sharma said that he was delighted to see the progress of players.

"(On the Indian American cricketers) Lot of these guys have played cricket together, very happy to see their progress. Saw them last year in MLC as well, they are all hard-working guys."

Rohit Sharma further lauded his bowlers for leading from the front and making the run-scoring difficult. He gave a special mention to Arshdeep Singh for his heroics. Rohit Sharma stated:

"(On the bowlers) We knew bowlers had to take the lead, run scoring was difficult. All the bowlers did the job, particularly Arshdeep. (On Dube bowling) You want options and we should be able to use them as and when we can. Today, the pitch favoured the seamers so wanted to use him."

Rohit Sharma also expressed relief over qualifying for Super 8 and signed off by praising Suryakumar Yadav for his terrific fifty. He elaborated:

"(On qualifying) It is a big relief, playing cricket here wasn't easy. We had to stick through till the end in all 3 games. Will take a lot of confidence from these wins."

"(On Suryakumar) He showed he has a different game to him, that's what you expect from experienced players. Credit to the way he stuck through today to take the game deep and win it for us."

India National Cricket Team will be next seen in action when they take on Canada National Cricket Team in the 33rd match of the competition on Saturday, June 15, at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground in Lauderhill.