"Suryakumar Yadav Isn't Going To Change.."- Dale Steyn

Former South Africa speedster Dale Steyn has praised Suryakumar Yadav for not changing his approach despite becoming the Indian skipper. South Africa defeated India in a rain-affected game by five wickets in the second T20I taking a 1-0 lead in a three-match series.

Suryakumar Yadav played a brilliant knock which helped India get to 180 for 7 in 19.3 over before the raingods arrived at the pitch, halting the play for almost half an hour. The Proteas got a revised target of 152 runs in 15 overs. South Africa chased it down in 13.5 overs, with five wickets and seven balls remaining.

Speaking to Star Sports after the match, Dale Steyn said Suryakumar has got a lot of shots in his book and makes batting look ridiculously easy. Suryakumar Yadav played a gritty innings scoring 56 runs off 36 balls, hitting five boundaries and three sixes in his knock.

“We spoke about him just after the break. He’s got a lot of shots, and he makes it look really easy. Sometimes it’s a burden being a captain. There’s a lot that you have to think of, and it can sometimes change how you play your game,” said Steyn.

Suryakumar Yadav Equals Virat Kohli’s Record In T20Is

He heaped praises on Suryakumar for not changing his approach and style towards his batting despite becoming India’s T20I captain. Suryakumar equaled Virat Kohli’s record to become the joint-fastest Indian Cricketer to reach the 2000-run mark in T20I cricket, getting there in just 56 innings.

“He walked out there at six for two and he was still able to continue striking it for almost 200. That shows you that he’s not going to change the style in which he scores his runs. He’s not going to change the approach. And that looks like a good thing for India going forward because you know that he’s always going to be aggressive and the opposition are not going to be able to run in there and do what they want to do,” Steyn added.

Suryakumar Yadav and Rinku Singh were the star performers for India in the second T20I. After both the openers got out on a duck, Suryakumar and Rinku handled the pressure well and accelerated at the right time to make India reach 180 in 19.3 overs before rain played spoilsports.

India will now face South Africa on December 14 at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg for the third T20I. South Africa is already leading the series by 1-0 and they will look to keep the series to themselves. However, the Men In Blue will try their best to level the series in the next game.