He makes batting look easy: Hardik on Surya

RAJKOT: India captain Hardik Pandya on Saturday said with each innings the rampaging Suryakumar Yadav has been telling his teammates that “batting is so easy”.

“I think he has been surprising everyone with every innings that he is batting. He is just telling us that batting is so easy. If I were bowling to him, I’d be disheartened on seeing his batting, with the shots he plays. He has played blinders after blinders,” Pandya said at the presentation ceremony.

Surya took over after Rahul Tripathi blazed away to a 16-ball 35, and Pandya was also full of praise for the latter.

“Special mention to Rahul Tripathi -- the ball was doing something but he showed great intent. Then SKY did his thing.”

When asked if he has ever given advice to Surya, Hardik said, “You don’t need to tell him anything, he knows what to do. If there is any situation where he is unsure, we have our chats but more often than not, he knows what to do.”

Thanks to Surya’s blazing knock, India posted an imposing 228 for five. The host then bowled out Sri Lank for 137. While left-arm spinning all-rounder Axar Patel went wicket-less on Saturday, he played his part with the bat, scoring 21 off just nine balls.

“I’m really proud of him (Axar), the way he is batting down the order and hitting. This will give a lot of confidence to him and the team as well,” Hardik said.

The skipper added, “My motto in life as captain has been that I’ll back my players. These are the best T20 cricketers in India and that’s why they are here. There is no space for doubting in this format and we’re backing the players properly.”

“The way we played in the series is pleasing, we didn’t even play 50 per cent of our game in the second game but we still fought well.”