India vs West Indies: Netizens hail Suryakumar Yadav for 'unwavering belief' after guiding Men in Blue to victory

Suryakumar Yadav blasted his way to a match-winning 83 off just 44 balls, setting up a comfortable seven-wicket victory for India over West Indies in the third T20I in Guyana on Tuesday.

India vice-captain Suryakumar collected 10 fours and four sixes during his game-changing knock, stitching an 87-run partnership for the third wicket with Tilak Varma (49 not out) and helping the Indians recover from a jittery start.

Surya’s knock ensured that the Indians chased the 160-run target down with more than two overs and seven wickets to spare even after he was dismissed, and kept their hopes in the five-match series alive after suffering narrow defeats in the first two games.

Varma, who took over the role of the aggressor after SKY’s dismissal, was eventually left stranded one short of what would’ve been a second half-century on the trot as skipper Pandya collected the winning runs with a six off Rovman Powell.

The chase however, would have been a lot more difficult for Surya and Tilak, especially after yet another top-order failure, had it not been for Kuldeep Yadav’s spell of 3/28 from four overs. The left-arm spinner, who replaced Ravi Bishnoi in the lineup for this game, dismissed in-form wicketkeeper-batter Nicholas Pooran (20) as well as opener Brandon King (42) in his final over to stifle the flow of runs for the hosts in the middle overs.

He was ably supported by fellow left-arm spinner Axar Patel, who bowled out his full quota of overs for the first time in this series and drew first blood for the Indians by dismissing Kyle Mayers (25). Axar finished with tidy figures of 1/24 from four overs.

Kuldeep and Axar’s bowling performances ensured West Indies fell 10-15 runs short of what they would have hoped to collect at the Providence Stadium in Georgetown, despite Powell smashing an unbeaten 40 off just 19 deliveries in a late charge.

Indian cricket fans on Twitter (or X, as its owner would like us to call it now) erupted in celebration after being left dissatisfied in the first two games, and the focus of their congratulatory tweets was naturally on Surya. Many a former and current cricketer also took to the micro-blogging platform to express their delight over the victory.

We take a look at some of the reactions to Team India’s performance below:

Surya scoring runs is always so pleasing. What’s more pleasing is to see the start of Tilak Verma’s career. Well done team india. #INDvWI

— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) August 8, 2023

Good comeback win from team India to keep the series alive. Special performances from Surya and Kuldeep. Tilak has looked good throughout. Well played #WIvIND pic.twitter.com/jT8sJmxuAC

— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) August 8, 2023

12th POTM award in just 51 games. And mind you…every noticeable performance doesn’t get you the award every time.
SKY’s unwavering belief in his skills and the ability to change the outcome of the game is exemplary. #WIvInd

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) August 8, 2023

When he bats there aren’t too many who can create or pierce angles like him. Wish some day Surya Kumar Yadav can translate his T20 aura into ODIs too. Hope the selectors do persist with him in the World Cup #SKY #Surya #IndvWI

— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) August 8, 2023

SKY is India’s best T20 bat ever.

— Himanish Ganjoo (@hganjoo_153) August 8, 2023

Happy that Rajinikanth of T20 cricket is back in form. Just kidding.

I mean, at his best, it feels as if SKY can do anything and everything with a willow in hand.

— Bharath Ramaraj (@Fancricket12) August 8, 2023