After India’s dominant six-wicket victory in Dubai – their seventh consecutive win over Pakistan in completed white-ball contests – Suryakumar pointed to the one-sided nature of results in India’s favour recently.
Suryakumar on the India-Pakistan Rivalry
“I think we should stop asking this question about the [India-Pakistan] rivalry, whether a team is playing quality cricket or not,” Suryakumar remarked. “In my view, if two teams play 15–20 matches and it’s 7-all or one side leads 8-7, that’s called a close contest, that’s a rivalry. But 13-0, 10-1, I don’t know the exact numbers. This is no longer a rivalry.”
Suryakumar had made a similar comment before the match as well. When asked about the rivalry, he stressed that it appears more in crowded stadiums than in the cricket itself: “When we talk about rivalry, I don’t know what sort of rivalry you mean. On the field, what I see is a packed stadium. And when it’s packed, I tell my teammates it’s time to entertain,” he said.
Key Phase of the Match
Discussing the Super Four clash, Suryakumar was clear about where India gained the edge. “I feel we outplayed them between overs 7 to 15, and also from a bowling perspective,” he explained.
“In my opinion, since the last game on the 14th [September], the surface has improved. Today, batting conditions were slightly better, but still a bit tough. I think whichever team dominates the 7–15 over phase will always stay ahead.”
India’s Fielding Struggles
That said, India wasn’t flawless. They put down four catches, all in the same part of the ground. The last time they dropped as many in a T20I was also against Pakistan at the MCG during the 2022 T20 World Cup. But Suryakumar said Dubai’s Ring of Fire floodlights couldn’t be an excuse, given India’s experience playing there.
“I think the fielding coach has already emailed the boys who had butter fingers to come to the office tomorrow or the day after,” Suryakumar joked, before adding, “But that’s part of the game and I’m fine with it. It’s good that it happened in the first match, because we have more important games coming up. It’s okay, it happens.”
“We’ve had sessions here, and did a lot of catching drills. No excuses. If chances went down, they went down. We go back, train harder, and return ready.”
Toss Decision and Pitch Conditions
India had opted to bowl first in the Super 4 game. While conditions haven’t varied much across both innings in Dubai during this Asia Cup, the captain still believed batting second was slightly preferable.
“My thinking [to bowl first at the toss] was because I felt the wicket would stay the same across 40 overs. And it did. There wasn’t much change. The pitch usually plays better under lights.”
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