India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav was involved in an animated chat with South Africa batters Marco Jansen and Gerald Coetzee during the first T20I at Kingsmead, Durban. The incident happened during the 15th over of the Proteas innings, Suryakumar Yadav was seen arguing with his Proteas counterparts, quite uncharacteristically. His expressions on his face clearly showed that he was not pleased with what was happening on the field.
The entire face-off between Marco Jansen and Suryakumar Yadav happened before the third ball of the 15th over was bowled. The point of contention was where the wicketkeeper Sanju Samson was collecting the ball on the pitch which perhaps miffed Marco Jansen.
However, Sanju Samson was also not happy as he was not being allowed to catch the ball as Marco Jansen kept coming in the way. Suryakumar Yadav was not pleased with his fact, and he decided to step in. The Indian captain was seen arguing with both Marco Jansen and Coetzee.
Suryakumar Yadav was also seen making his point quite emphatically to the on-field umpires Lubabalo Gcuma and Stephen Harris.
India register a comfortable win in 1st T20I vs SA
Suryakumar Yadav-led Team India registered a comprehensive run win in the first T20I against the Proteas to gain a 1-0 lead in the four-match series. Asked to bat first, India posted 202/8 in the allotted 20 overs, owing to a whirlwind knock of 107 runs by Sanju Samson.
This was Samson’s second consecutive century. With this, the 29-year-old also became the first Indian to register back-to-back T20I centuries.
Varun Chakravarthy and Ravi Bishnoi then took three wickets each as South Africa was bundled out for 141 runs inside 18 overs. In the end, the visitors ended up winning the match by 61 runs. India are now unbeaten at Durban when it comes to T20Is.
Talking after the match, Suryakumar Yadav said, “We have not changed our brand of cricket in the last 3-4 series, very happy with the win. The amount of hard work he (Sanju Samson) has done in the last 10 years, doing the boring work, he is eating the fruits of that. He was in the 90s but still he was looking for a boundary, playing for the team and shows the character of the man and that’s what we look for.”
“That was the plan, we were looking for the crucial wickets of Klaasen and Miller and the way they (spinners) delivered, it was incredible. As I said already at the toss and the PC, boys have made my job easier, I don’t need to carry any baggage, the boys are enjoying themselves on and off the field, which makes my job easier. The brand of cricket we play, even though we lose a few wickets, we want to play without fear, it’s a T20 game and if you can score 200 in 17 overs, why not,” he added.
India and South Africa will now square off in the second T20I of the four-match series on Sunday, November 10.
