R Ashwin has witty appreciation post for Suryakumar Yadav; 'Sky was blue and limitless'

Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin took to his official Koo account on Thursday and posted a picture of him with teammate Suryakumar Yadav, praising him for the match-winning knock of 62 runs off 40 balls in the 1st T20I of the three-match series against New Zealand. Suryakumar blasted the Kiwi bowlers all over the park at a strike rate of 155.00, and brought India closer to the win before falling on delivery by Kiwi pacer Trent Boult. Ashwin also starred in the match, courtesy of his bowling effort of 2/23 in four overs which helped India to restrict New Zealand for 164/6 in the first innings.

Meanwhile, appreciating Suryakumar in his Koo post, R Ashwin said that the sky was blue and limitless during the match the previous night and hailed the Indian batter for his match-winning knock. Suryakumar came into the pitch to bat at no.3, after vice-captain and opener KL Rahul was dismissed for 15 runs off 14 balls, following a 50-run partnership with skipper Rohit Sharma. As both MI batters took charge of the Indian innings, the Kiwi bowlers had a tough time controlling their line and length as the Rohit and Suryakumar stitched a partnership of 59 runs off only 49 balls. 

Rishabh Pant finished the match after Suryakumar Yadav's dismissal

During his partnership with the skipper, Suryakumar scored two-third of the runs by scoring 40 off 30 balls. After the unfortunate dismissal of Rohit at the individual score of 48 runs, the no.3 batter hit 22 runs off 10 balls while batting alongside wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant. After taking India to a winning position Suryakumar Yadav walked back to the pavilion, following a sensational knock that consisted of six boundaries and three sixes in total. Pant ensured India cross the winning mark by remaining unbeaten at the end of the innings with a run-a-ball individual score of 17 runs.

Following the win, the BCCI posted a video on their official Twitter handle, where Ashwin can be seen asking questions to the star of the match, Suryakumar Yadav. Ashwin praised him by saying, “Sky is the limit”. Replying to Ashwin, Suryakumar said, “I think Sky is not the limit, I think looking forward it should be a benchmark”. On being questioned if he is disappointed after falling to MI teammate Trent Boult and not being able to finish the match, he replied that he has played him a lot of times in the nets and the same things happen there too. In a total of nine T20I matches for India, Suryakumar Yadav has scored a total of 243 runs at a strike rate of 160.9, which also includes three half-centuries.

(Twitter Image: BCCI)