Ind vs Aus, 1st T20I: Suryakumar joins Jasprit Bumrah in ELITE list after memorable captaincy debut

India beat Australia by two wickets in the five-match T20I series opener at theDr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam on Thursday (Nov 23). Under Suryakumar Yadav, India opted to bowl first as Australia rode on Josh Inglis' 50-ball 110, laced with 11 fours and 8 sixes, to post 208 for 3. In reply, India were in a spot of bother at 22 for 2 before stand-in captain Suryakumar's 42-ball 80, Ishan Kishan's 39-ball 58 and Rinku Singh's 14-ball unbeaten 22 took India past the finish line. Thus, Surya's first-ever match as international captain ended with a win.

For his impressive and counter-attacking 80, Surya also ended with the Player-of-the-Match award. Thus, the Mumbai Indians (MI) star batter joined Jasprit Bumrah to become only the second Indian to win the POTM award on T20I captaincy debut. It is to be noted that Bumrah achieved the feat early this year, when he captained India for the first time in the shortest format during the three-match T20I series opener versus Ireland, in Dublin, in mid-August (which was also his return to international cricket after a long injury layoff).

Overall, SKY became the 13th Indian to lead in the shortest format of the game. So far, the likes of Virender Sehwag, MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul, Bumrah, Ruturaj Gaikwad and SKY have led India in T20Is.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

At the post-match presentation, SKY stated, "Very happy with the way the boys played. Was very happy with their energy, we were put under pressure but the way everyone showed up was amazing. It’s a proud moment, very proud moment, everytime you play, you think about representing India but coming out here and captaining India is a big moment. Thought there will be a little bit of dew but there wasn’t. It isn’t a big ground and I knew batting will get easy. Thought they might get 230-235 but the bowlers did really well. Just enjoy and express yourself. We’ve been in such situations many times in franchise cricket, just told Ishan to enjoy himself. We knew what was going to happen."

He added, "I left the luggage of captaincy in the dressing room. I try to enjoy my batting. The atmosphere was amazing, thanks to the crowd. Was great to see how the boys kept their nerves. Was great to see Rinku, the situation was tailor-made for him. He was calm and collected, calmed me down a little bit. Incredible achievement from the bowlers to restrict them to this total after the 16th over."

The second T20I between both sides will now take place on Sunday (Nov 26)at theGreenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram.