Rajkot ): After India crumbled away to a 26-run defeat, captain Suryakumar Yadav was left impressed by the performances of lead spinners of both teams in the 3rd T20I in Rajkot. For India, Varun Chakravarthy remained a mystery for the English batters while Adil Rashid, with his precision and skill craft, made the life of the hosts a nightmare. When India set out to chase down 172, Rashid, with his mastery in the spectrum of spin bowling, overwhelmed the Men in Blue. After India was down to 86/5, Rashid ensured the momentum stayed on England's side.
He kept things tight in the middle phase and laid his traps perfectly to make strike rotation an exacting task for Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel. The seasoned spinner hardly gave away a loose delivery for the batters to latch on and increased the pressure on the duo by letting the asking rate escalate.
"I felt there'd be a little bit of dew. With Hardik-Axar batting and us needing 55 off 24, still felt we had the game in our hands. The credit to Adil Rashid. We wanted to rotate the strike, but he didn't let us, that's why he is a world-class bowler," Suryakumar said in the post-match presentation.
Even though Rashid had only one scalp to boast in his wicket column, the value of that wicket and his economical spell signify his importance in volume for England. Tilak Varma, who was yet to be dismissed in the ongoing series, was outdone by an absolute ripper from Rashid. With an economy rate of 3.80, the experienced ball tweaker was the least expensive across both sides.
On the other hand, Varun turned England's middle order inside out with his deceiving pace and variations. After getting the big fish, England captain Jos Buttler, Varun cleared the middle order to reach his second five-wicket haul in the T20Is for India.
According to Suryakumar, discipline and hardworking nature are the reasons behind Varun's success in the shortest format of cricket. "Varun's one guy who has been working very hard and has good discipline that's why he's got the results," he added.
On the Indian bowling front, Mohammed Shami returned to international cricket for the first time since the ODI World Cup final in 2023. He went wicketless but showed signs of finding his rhythm.
The 34-year-old consistently bowled around 135 kph, had a flawless seam position, and even generated a bit of movement as well. "Good to see Shami bowl like that," the Indian skipper said.
In the first innings, India had the chance to take the series away after England were tottering at 127/8. Liam Livingstone came to the visitor's rescue with his brisk 43(24) to lift England to a competitive total. The valuable contributions from Rashid (10*) and Mark Wood (10*) propelled the visitors to 171/9.
"We always learn from a T20 game. Conceding 170 from 127 for 8 was too much. In batting also, we have a few things to learn," Suryakumar said. After England managed to keep the series alive, India will have another opportunity to take an unassailable lead on Friday.