After the third T20I against South Africa, Suryakumar Yadav made a massive assertion about the star batter: “The way he batted, my No. 4 slot is in…”

The team led by Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav scored the most runs in their historic series victory against the Proteas on Tuesday, capitalizing on Suryakumar Yadav’s scorching performance in the just ended T20I Series against South Africa. Premier batsman Suryakumar made 119 runs and batted at a fantastic strike rate of 195.08 in the three-match series against the visitors while maintaining a respectable average of 59.50. The on-song batter, though, marked the end of a forgettable performance in Tuesday’s dead rubber match between the two sides.

In a game when India was without the services of run-machine Virat Kohli and vice-captain KL Rahul, Suryakumar was out for 8 off 6 balls. In the third T20I against the Temba Bavuma-led team, experienced Indian hitter Dinesh Karthik showed off his white-ball prowess while Suryakumar suffered a rare batting setback.

As the star batter finished a record-breaking performance in the series-deciding match against South Africa, Suryakumar was awarded the Player of the Series. The middle-order batter smashed multiple records in the penultimate encounter to help Team India register their first-ever T20I series win over South Africa at home.

“Really? I didn’t look at the statistics. But I believe that was the game’s requirement. I don’t follow the statistics and figures my pals provide me on WhatsApp. I wanted to have fun, and that was the same mental process. So I had to take a backseat and work on developing a relationship with him. So didn’t work today,” Suryakumar stated after South Africa defeated India in the third T20I to claim a consolation victory.

After the bilateral series in Indore ended, the top batter also praised Karthik. The wicketkeeper-batter, according to Suryakumar, has jeopardized his No. 4 spot by playing a brilliant game against the Proteas. “My number 4 is in danger, and DK needs some game time,” said the coach. Although I haven’t considered it much, Suryakumar said, “I am looking forward to it.”