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India successfully defended 186 runs during their win over Zimbabwe but former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar was all praise for Suryakumar Yadav's performance, saying that the team's win over the Chevrons was only possible because of Suryakumar Yadav's explosive unbeaten 61 runs off just 25 balls.
It was an easy win for the Men in Blue, setting a target of 186 courtesy of an ecstatic innings from Suryakumar, coupled with KL Rahul's 51 off 35 balls. The bowlers, led by veteran Ravichandran Ashwin, took three wickets, Hardik Pandya and Mohammed Shami took two wickets apiece while Arshdeep Singh and Bhuvneshwar Kumar shared a wicket each. And Gavaskar was quick to heap praise on the batter, calling him their next Mr. 360 degree.
“Each of those innings was pretty much 360 degrees. He is the new Mr. 360 degree. There was that one shot that he hit for a six just to the left of the wicketkeeper. Then he went a little squarer in the final overs, for example, taking advantage of the angle that the bowler was trying to aim at. Then also the lofted extra cover drive, he has got every shot in the book. There was a straight drive as well,” Gavaskar was quoted as saying to Sports Tak.
Gavaskar was also of the opinion that in the absence of the 32-year-old power hitter in the national team, the Men in Blue would have even struggled to reach 150 runs against Zimbabwe, “He is actually turning out to be the player who is taking India to totals which you can defend. The score India got was the highest T20I score at the MCG. Without his 61 not out, India would not have reached even 150,” he stated,
The legend was also appreciative of KL Rahul's contributions for India in the last two matches but wants the opener to keep going in case the in-form duo of Virat Kohli and Suryakumar do not fire in the coming match or matches.
“I think at the moment, there are two batters who are in prime form, Kohli and Suryakumar. It was also good to see KL Rahul get yet another half-century, but he has to look to get more than that for a simple reason. If Surya doesn’t fire, then India will struggle to get 140-150. It’s therefore very important for Rahul to keep going,” Gavaskar added.
