Team India, under the captaincy of Suryakumar Yadav, emerged victorious by 101 runs against South Africa at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack.
During the match, Team India bowlers showcased exceptional skills with the ball and bowled out the visitors for just 74 runs.
The star pacer for the hosts, Arshdeep Singh, spoke about his bowling partnership with lead pacer Jasprit Bumrah. He said that Bumrah is a “gentle senior” and being a Punjabi helps him to gel easily.
“My relationship with him is very good. He`s a gentle senior, never harsh on youngsters and always very polite. Being Punjabi as well, it`s easy for both of us to gel,” said Arshdeep.
The 26-year-old pacer also said that bowling with Bumrah makes things easier as the batsmen try to play rash shots in an attempt to get runs off him.
“Bowling with him makes things easier for me because batters usually look to attack my overs. Even bad balls can get me wickets because they know they won`t get easy runs at the other end. It benefits me, and I absolutely enjoy bowling alongside him,” he said.
Arshdeep and Bumrah are the only two Indian bowlers by far who have completed 100 wickets in the shortest format of the game. Arshdeep has 107 wickets in 69 T20Is, whereas Jasprit has claimed 101 wickets in 81 matches of the format.
Premier all-rounder Hardik Pandya played a crucial role for the side in the series opener. With the willow, he smashed a fiery, unbeaten half-century and also bagged a wicket. Following his heroics, the right-hander was named the “Player of the Match”. With the dominating victory, the “Men in Blue” have taken a 1-0 lead against the Proteas.
The second T20I match between Team India and South Africa is scheduled to be played on Thursday at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh PCA Stadium in Punjab.
India squad for the T20I series against South Africa: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Shubman Gill (vice-captain), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar.
(With ANI Inputs)