India captain Suryakumar Yadav seemed to be fed up with the questions around the rivalry against Pakistan. Suryakumar believes that the rivalry between the two teams ceases to exist considering the record in the past few years.
"I would like to say one thing on this question. I feel that you should stop asking this question on the rivalry," he said in the post-match press conference as India beat Pakistan by six wickets with seven balls to spare.
In international cricket, this was India's seventh consecutive win against Pakistan. Suryakumar feels that the statistics suggest that it isn't worthy to be called a rivalry anymore.
"Standards and rivalry are the same. According to me, if two teams play 15-20 matches and if [head-to-head] it is 7-7 or 8-7, then that is called a rivalry. But 13-0, 10-1….I don't know what the stats are. But this is not a rivalry anymore. But yeah, I feel we played better cricket than them," Suryakumar elaborated.
Suryakumar lauds bowlers’ comeback, especially Dube
On September 21, Pakistan put up a better performance with the bat. Sahibzada Farhan scored a half-century but despite cameos at the back end of the innings, they managed to post 171/5 on the board. Pakistan failed to press on the advantage and posted a par total. Suryakumar lauded Shivam Dube for his double strikes to bring down Pakistan’s run rate in the middle overs. He feels that after the first drinks break, Indian bowlers made a comeback.
"According to me, the turning point was in the first drinks in the first innings. People changed their body language after that. You always see the game changes generally after the powerplay.” the 35-year-old said.
"But today, the game changed after ten overs, when the bowlers changed their line and lengths, understood what was needed in that situation, and showed a little more energy. The spinners bowled well. And according to me, Shivam Dube's spell, you can say that it was a turning point."
Abhishek, Shubman wreak havoc
Indian openers Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill made a mockery of the target, sharing a 105-run partnership from 59 balls. Suryakumar was dismissed for a three-ball duck but Tilak Varma ensured that India get over the line in the penultimate over itself.