"It seemed he was not in his prime" - Sanjay Manjrekar lauds Suryakumar Yadav's knock in 1st India vs England T20I

Sanjay Manjrekar has lauded Suryakumar Yadav for regaining his prime form in the first T20I between Team India and England.

Yadav smashed 39 runs off just 19 deliveries, a knock studded with four fours and two sixes. The Men in Blue went on to set a formidable 199-run target for England and eventually won the match by 50 runs.

During a discussion on Sony Sports, Manjrekar was asked about Suryakumar Yadav being back amongst the runs after an indifferent run in Ireland.

He responded:

"There was a big absence due to injury, and then he played in Ireland, but it seemed he was not in his prime. But today, the shots he played, and if you see the strike rate of how many deliveries he scored his runs."

The former Indian batter was all praise for Yadav's strokeplay against both spinners and pacers.

Manjrekar elaborated:

"He started with a sweep shot, wristy Surya, I feel he can play 10-15 different types of sweeps itself and cover drives. But the shots he played against the fast bowlers - he uses the pace of the fast bowlers, that is his specialty. When he scores runs, seeing some of the shots he plays, leaves you astonished."

Yadav was dismissed for a duck in the first T20I against Ireland and managed just 15 runs in the second game against the same opponents.

He did score an unbeaten 36 in the first T20 practice game against Derbyshire, but again failed to open his account against Northamptonshire.

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"The faster the bowler comes, the more easily he plays him" - Ajay Jadeja on Suryakumar Yadav

Suryakumar Yadav is adept at using the pace of the deliveries

Ajay Jadeja highlighted Suryakumar Yadav's proficiency in moving across his stumps to garner runs on the leg side against the pacers.

The former Indian opener explained:

"The faster the bowler comes, the more easily he plays him. You can see in the wagon wheel, it is not that those deliveries are outside the leg stump. We talk about footwork against spin at times, he goes inside the line against the pace bowlers and uses their pace, that is why you see 52% runs (between mid-wicket and fine leg)."

Yadav strung together useful partnerships with Deepak Hooda and Hardik Pandya to give the required momentum to the Indian innings. Both his sixes came over fine leg off Tymal Mills' bowling.