Suryakumar Yadav Reflects on Learning from India’s Loss to South Africa in 2nd T20

New Delhi: After India’s defeat against South Africa in the second T20 International, team captain Suryakumar Yadav described the loss as part of a learning process and expressed disappointment over key batsmen not taking responsibility.

Speaking after the match, Yadav said, “Yes, this is a learning process. We just need to learn and move forward. There was some dew, and if our first plan didn’t work, we should have had a second plan, but we didn’t follow through.” He added that the team observed South Africa’s bowling in the second innings and will use these insights to perform better in the next game.

Top-Order Batsmen Need to Shoulder Responsibility
Yadav admitted that the top-order batsmen should not have relied entirely on Abhishek Sharma. He said, “I feel that Shubman Gill and I should have given a better start. We cannot depend on Abhishek all the time. Even he can have an off-day. I, Shubman, and a few others needed to take more responsibility.” He acknowledged that a smarter chase could have been executed and reflected on Gill’s early dismissal, noting that he himself should have batted deeper.

Akshar Patel’s Batting Order Decision
Regarding the decision to promote Akshar Patel up the batting order, Yadav explained, “We saw in the previous game that Akshar bats very well in longer formats. We wanted him to play similarly today. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out this time. He batted well, but we will reassess what works best for the next match.”

Yadav concluded by reiterating that the team will learn from this defeat and strive for a stronger performance in the upcoming game.