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India's captain Suryakumar Yadav provided an honest assessment after his team's scratchy 21-run win over Oman in their final Group A match of the Asia Cup 2025. He acknowledged that the playing conditions and overall circumstances were challenging.
Suryakumar Yadav on Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana's performance
Batting first, India's top order fumbled despite Abhishek Sharma's fiery start. Abhishek's 15-ball 38 which was coupled with Sanju Samson's sedate 45-ball 56 helped India post a total of 188/8. In reply, Indian bowlers couldn't pose much challenge to Oman batters, who were comfortably bashing them out of the park and gave India a scare for sure before they fumbled at the end as they remained 22-run short of winning the match.
Suryakumar specifically highlighted the difficulty of adapting to the environment.
"It's a little difficult when you're sitting and suddenly you come out and play. It's so humid here," Suryakumar said after the match.
The match saw the return of bowlers Harshit Rana (25/1) and Arshdeep Singh (37/1) to the team, who both conceded a high number of runs. With the need to rotate a total of eight bowlers, the captain was also complimentary of Oman's performance throughout the game. Arshdeep also set a towering benchmark during the match as he became the first India to take 100 T20I wickets.
"Overall impressive. I feel Oman played (well). I knew with their coach, Sulu sir (Sulakshan Kulkarni), there will be khadoosness (stubbornness). It was amazing, really enjoyed watching them bat," India skipper added.
Suryakumar candidly referred to Hardik Pandya's run-out as 'unfortunate'. He also disclosed a strategic decision he made during the match, revealing he had intentionally moved himself down the batting order, even below Kuldeep Yadav, who batted at No. 9. This move was to allow other players more time in the middle. With a hint of humor, he said, "I will try to bat higher than No. 11 in the next game."
"Working on my fitness the last few weeks. We just got a new trainer and did the Bronco test. Good to see I got to spend some time in the middle. They (Oman) bowled really well. Have to give credit to Oman. Bowled well in the powerplay also, were swinging it upfront. I keep backing my strength to stay positive. Any contribution with the bat for your country, you have to take the positives," he concluded.
After winning all the three matches in the group stage, India will now face Pakistan in the Super Four encounter which is scheduled to be played on September 21.
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