Surya’s masterclass, a strange tricky wicket, and silenced sarcasm

By K.R. Nayar 
From Wankhede Stadium

Mumbai. Indian fans were in for a rude shock on Saturday evening. After the USA won the toss and elected to field, it was taken for granted that they would witness an extension of the fireworks from the opening ceremony by the Indian batters. But what actually happened was jaw-dropping. With the scoreboard reading 46 for 4 in 5.6 overs, latecomers may have thought it was the USA that was batting first.

Photos: BCCI Twitter

But for Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav’s stunning assault on the USA bowlers, the story would have very different. Suryakumar Yadav’s batting was a lesson on how to bat under pressure while his other reputed batters fell one by one at the other end. It resembled poetry written under pressure. 

Despite the humiliation of losing to the USA looming large, a flurry of strokes came out of his blade. One must be fortunate to be able to witness the kind of strokes he played – the scoop over fine leg, the elegant glide past backward point, backed by wristy flicks, each one bettered the other. It almost felt like only he could play those shots. And those that closely resembled Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s helicopter shot received huge cheers.

Intelligence at its best

Surya played this innings with intelligence. There was no rushing to hit out, but rather hitting to areas after mapping the whole ground, which is also his home ground. The beauty lay in his shuffle, which got bowlers to wonder where to bowl. And when that was coupled with power, all the bowler could do was to silently applaud. There were times when it looked like he was pointing out to his opponents as to why they had not placed a fielder where he had hit repeatedly. When he remained unbeaten on 84, fans wished he had hit another 16 runs for a century. Nevertheless, they returned home satisfied, having enjoyed a captain’s knock they could be proud of, and that too from their local boy.

India vs Rest of the World

Indian fans could console themselves on their team’s poor batting stating that India was not playing the USA team but a Rest of the World XI. The USA team had players not only from India but from Pakistan and South Africa. Although many of the Indian players may not have faced some of the USA bowlers and only observed them and their ways on television, what they did not anticipate was how deadly they could be on a tricky wicket.

Why a tricky wicket?

The Indian batsmen attributed their failure yesterday to a tricky wicket. When India are the hosts and Mumbai is a regular venue, the question that comes up is why was such a wicket prepared for the match. Had the Indian skipper not played a gem of an innings, it would have been a disastrous start for India. The shots he played were out of the book on a wicket that should not have been prepared for a T20 World Cup contest.

India failed to read Schalkwyk

USA’s Shadley van Schalkwyk bagged four Indian wickets yesterday. They failed to read his deliveries just like how difficult it is to pronounce his name. The joke in the press box was that since his name was not easy to pronounce, the Indian batters may have decided to skip viewing the videos on his bowling. Whatever be the reason, he destroyed the reputation of the Indian batters. Fans were expecting a total of over 200 and at least a century from any Indian batter. Instead, they had to cheer when India crossed the 100-run mark, something they had assumed would be crossed in the first half itself!

National anthem and USA

While India’s national anthem was being played, all Indian players sang along. Many players in the USA team who were born in India and have sung the national anthem during their days in India, stood silently as they had already sung the USA’s national anthem. When the crowd cheered Saurabh Netravalkar in Marathi, he smiled. After all, he has played on almost all the grounds in Mumbai before leaving the city to take up a job in America.

Sarcasm at its peak

The talk before the India–USA match was that it would be a no-contest. Just before the pre-match press conference, one person even remarked that if India played against Mumbai or Karnataka in a Ranji Trophy quarterfinal at the BKC ground, it would produce a better contest. In fact, the general attitude was that such contests should not even be given international status. However, USA’s performance against India, the Netherlands’ show against Pakistan, and Scotland’s impressive show against the West Indies, all prove that Associate nations too deserve respect.