Suryakumar Yadav on Sunday acknowledged the shortage of runs from him but India’s T20I skipper did not count it as lack of form, saying that runs will come sooner than later. Suryakumar made an 11-ball 12 in India’s seven-wicket win over South Africa in the third T20I in Dharamsala before getting out to Lungi Ngidi. It extended his run of low scores to 21 innings, with the exceptions being his 75 against Bangladesh in Hyderabad on October 24, and an unbeaten 47 against Pakistan during September’s Asia Cup.
“I've been batting beautifully in the nets. When the runs have to come, they'll come. Not out of form, definitely out of runs,” said Suryakumar in the post-match presentation.
The outing also reduced Suryakumar’s average in T20Is in 2025 to a paltry 14.20 with two matches against South Africa remaining. But he was happy with the way India bounced back from the defeat in the second T20I.
“I think this sport teaches you a lot of things. How you come back into the series is more important. And we did the same thing, we wanted to go back to basics, do the same things we were doing in Cuttack, and the results were on our side. See, there was a lot of learning from the game we played in (New) Chandigarh. The bowlers sat together, we had a good team meeting as well,” he noted.
Player of the match Arshdeep Singh said he just followed his tried and tested basic methods to come back from an ordinary outing in New Chandigarh. “…just sticking to the basics, and trusting my skill set. When you play at this level, there are some days when you won’t execute the things you want to do. It was one off day (last game), so it feels nice to do this (bowl well in this game).
“I just pitched the ball in the right areas and tried to get as much help from the wicket. There was some help in the wicket, the conditions were cold as well, so there was enough swing and seam,” he said.
The left-arm pacer dedicated the award to his 10-month-old niece, who was at the stadium with her parents. “My niece is here, she's ten-months old, and I want to dedicate this award to her,” he said with a wide grin.
South Africa skipper Aiden Markram lauded Indian bowlers for a fine show that crippled his side’s top-order. “They (Indian pacers) got the ball in the right areas and before you know it we were 4-5 down. If we get similar conditions, we have to put pressure back. Credit to them. They didn't give us much to score off. I tried to take it deep. Whole time I thought if I got us to 140-150 it'd have been a closer game,” said Markram.
Markram admitted that Indian opener Abhishek Sharma’s 18-ball 35 took the match further away from South Africa. “Credit to Abhi for coming off. We weren't in the right areas in the first 3-4 overs. But it was a positive to stretch the game by bowling good lengths later,” he said.
Spinner Varun Chakravarthy, who took two wickets in the middle overs to slow down South Africa, said the skidding nature of the pitch helped his bowling. “It was doing a bit for the seamers. Other than that, tough conditions. Never played in a ground that's this chill. I was trying to stick to my strength. The ball was skidding more than turning, that's what I tried to do it,” he said.
Chakravarthy said the bowlers and the team management had an open conversation after a mediocre outing in the second match at Mullanpur (New Chandigarh). “We had a bowling meeting and some honest conversations. Credit to management and bowlers for a two-way conversation. Oh! I was not aware that I got past 50 T20I wickets, but it really feels good,” he added.
