(Reuters) – Indian batter Suryakumar Yadav said his partnership with Virat Kohli had been forged by mutual respect for each other’s style after the pair guided their team to a 56-run win over the Netherlands in the Twenty20 World Cup on Thursday.
Kohli’s superb 62 not out was his second successive unbeaten half-century after a blitzkrieg in India’s victory over Pakistan on Sunday and it was Suryakumar’s turn to go ballistic against the Dutch, as he smashed a 25-ball 51.
Suryakumar said he relished batting with Kohli after their unbeaten stand of 95 runs in 48 balls lifted 2007 champions to 179-2, a total that proved too much for the Dutch.
“I feel we respect each other’s game. For example, if I’m getting few boundaries from one end, he tries to rotate and to keep the intent to look for good shots,” Suryakumar said.
“It’s just the respect we have for each of us when we’re batting together. We just enjoy batting with each other and what shots he plays. We try to run hard as much as possible.
“So it’s a great thing, and I’m really looking forward to having more partnerships with him.”
While Kohli can explode at any moment, his strength lies in steadily accumulating runs but Suryakumar – who has made 867 runs in 2022 at a strike rate of more than 180 – said his approach was more straightforward.
“I look for boundaries, try and hit the gaps and run hard. When you are batting with Kohli, you have to run hard as well,” said Suryakumar.
“He just clears your thoughts. When I was batting and when I was a little confused… he was coming up to me and telling me what delivery can you expect from that bowler.
“It’s very good camaraderie.”
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; editing by Richard Pullin)
