India captain Suryakumar Yadav lauded spinner Ravi Bishnoi’s ‘class character’ following India’s narrow six-run win against Australia in the fifth and final match of the T20I series.
India got off to a good start with Yashashvi Jaiswal scoring a 15-ball 21 before being dismissed by Jason Behrendorff. Ruturaj Gaikwad missed out on breaking Virat Kohli’s record for scoring the most runs by an Indian in a bilateral T20I series, after being dismissed on 10.
Shreyas Iyer scored a brilliant half-century, hitting 53 runs off 37 balls. It was a rare batting failure for Rinku Singh, who had been a standout performer in the T20I series.
Jitesh Sharma and Axar Patel scored 24 and 31 respectively to provide a late flourish for India as the hosts ended with 160 for 8 in the first innings.
India defended 161 runs on the back of brilliant bowling spells by Mukesh Kumar, Ravi Bishnoi and Axar Patel early on. Mukesh picked up three wickets, while Bishnoi claimed two. Axar picked only one wicket, that of Tim David, but gave away just 14 runs in four overs to be awarded the ‘Player of the Match’ award.
Arshdeep Singh, who went for runs in his opening spell, came back to defend 10 runs in the final over to win the match for India. Ben McDermott was the top-scorer for the visitors, smashing a 36-ball 54.
In a video released by the BCCI, Suryakumar said it feels good to win the series as a skipper. This was the first time that Suryakumar captained India in a bilateral series, leading the Men in Blue to a 4-1 win over the Aussies.
“Obviously feeling goof after winning the series. On top of that as a captain, it feels good. This is a new angle in life. It feels good and the people also supported me as well, the support staff and players,” said Suryakumar.
He went on to shower praise on Bishnoi, saying he showed his class character, stressing that he’s been doing well regularly. Bishnoi was adjudged the ‘Player of the Series’ for claiming nine wickets in five matches.
“Axar has won back to back Player of the Match awards, which is a big thing. Ravi Bishnoi has regularly been doing well. The way he came back after his first game and won the Player of the Series award was great. He’s shown his class character,” Suryakumar added.
Following their series win against Australia, India is all set to travel to South Africa where they will begin the T20I series on Sunday, December 10.
