India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav went on the field in defense of his team's aggressive approach, saying they haven't altered their "brand of cricket in the last 3-4 series," all after a 61-run win over South Africa in the first T20I on Friday.
Sanju Samson had provided an ideal launch pad for India's ultra-aggressive innings at Kingsmead with his blistering 107 off 50 balls, replete with 10 sixes and seven fours. Then, Tilak Varma and Suryakumar scored 33 off 18 balls and 21 off 17 balls respectively, as the Indians capitalized on the momentum set by Samson as they posted 202/8.
In reply, South Africa were bowled out for 141 in 17.5 overs as India's spinners, Varun Chakravarthy and Ravi Bishnoi, claimed three wickets apiece as India won by a margin of 61 runs.
"We haven't changed our brand of cricket in the last 3-4 series, very happy with the win," said the Indian captain.
Suryakumar lauded the aggressive approach taken by Samson on the way to his second successive T20I century and said that is how wicketkeeper-batters' on-field character comes into the picture.
"The amount of hard work he has put in over the last few years, doing the boring work, he is eating the fruits of that. He was in the 90s but still he was looking for a boundary, playing for the team which shows the character of the man and that's what we look for," he said.
Asked about the usage of spinners in the middle overs and towards the end of the powerplay, Suryakumar said: "That was the plan, looking at the crucial wickets of Klaasen and Miller and the way they delivered, it was quite incredible."
"As I said already at the toss and the PC, boys have made my job easier, I don't need to carry any baggage, the way they have been showing that fearless attitude, the boys are enjoying themselves on and off the field, which makes my job easier. The brand of cricket we play, even though we lose a few wickets, we want to play without fear. It's a T20 game, we know we have 20 overs but if you can score 200 in 17 overs, why not," he added.
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