Nottingham : India captain Rohit Sharma showered praise on fellow Mumbaikar Suryakumar Yadav's astonishing, stroke-filled 117 off 55 balls, his maiden century in T20Is.
It was a knock where Suryakumar combined immaculate timing, audacious shots and scored runs across all areas in the ground with ridiculous ease to almost single-handedly win the third T20I against England, but eventually fell short by 17 runs. His knock was laced with 14 fours and six sixes at a strike-rate of 212.73 which single-handedly kept India in the hunt of chasing a massive 216.
"I thought it was a fantastic chase although we fell short. To show that fight is something we are really proud of. Surya was magnificent to watch. I have been watching him for a while now. Loves this format, has wide range of shots, never lets the tempo lose and has grown as a player. He has grown from strength to strength since we got him into the squad," said Sharma after the match.
Sharma admitted that there were plans which India wanted to execute but couldn't do so due to an 84-run partnership off 43 balls between Dawid Malan (77) and Liam Livingstone (42 not out), which propelled England to 215/7 in 20 overs.
"Certain plans we wanted to execute but those guys put us under pressure through the innings. Decent partnership in the middle put us on the back foot. You back yourself to get this score. We were clear in trying out guys if they can bowl 4 overs. We have things to work on as a group."
With 98 days left for Men's T20 World Cup in Australia, Sharma saw the 17-run loss as a learning curve for India in the road to the showpiece event. "Hope so (on preparation for T20 World Cup). So far things are pretty good. We don't want to be a team that sits on laurels. We want to get better every game. Today was a great learning for us to come out and bowl. And to bat as well. Games like this will teach you." --- IANS