After Suryakumar Yadav scored 26 off 31 balls, Karthik identifies a significant flaw in Yadav’s batting: “If he had gone out to that stroke…”

The second T20I between New Zealand and India was the closest thing to a low-scoring thriller there is. India was able to hold New Zealand to a total of 99/8 on a wicket that favored spin spinners well. Suryakumar Yadav’s four off the second-to-last ball of the game was the strike that sent India over the line, but the Kiwis made sure it would be anything but an easy chase for the hosts.

No batsman was able to smash a six throughout the game, therefore great hitters like Finn Allen, Glenn Phillips, Hardik Pandya, and Suryakumar Yadav had to wait their turn. Pandya and Suryakumar, who put up an unbroken 31-run partnership in 32 balls, were ultimately responsible for getting India over the finish line. Before this knock, Suryakumar had a lifetime strike rate of over 180 in 45 innings. He displayed a different side of his batting by going undefeated on 26 off 31 balls.

Dinesh Karthik, a seasoned wicketkeeper-batter, believes that the 32-year-issues old’s with shot selection may be evident during this innings.

His shot selection was intriguing. I believe he made an effort to play like the speedboat he is throughout the innings. For instance, even though all four fielders were back on the leg side, he went for the tremendous sweep on a large ground, despite my advice that it was not the greatest move. He needs to continue to develop in that area. Karthik said on Cricbuzz that his goal was to “get those boundaries in these chases and try to be extremely good at it.”

Because of the slow pitch, the slow bowler, and the difficulty of clearing deep square leg on a long boundary, “if he had been out to that hit, he would have looked back and thought that is probably the trickiest shot to score a six. Because the odds are stacked firmly against you, even if it wasn’t his most fluid inning, it wasn’t his finest strategically either. The good news is that he saw it through to completion, and that was lovely,” he remarked.

Suryakumar managed to lift the second last ball from Tickner over the infield when India needed three to win off two deliveries. India has now tied the three-match series 1-1, and the pivotal third T20I will take place on Wednesday in Ahmedabad.