Suryakumar Yadav was in no mood to attach extra meaning to India’s latest victory over Pakistan. Asked whether Babar Azam’s side had lifted their standards after last week’s defeat, the India captain replied, “I would like to say one thing on this question. I feel that you should stop asking this question on the rivalry,” before a reporter reminded him the enquiry had not mentioned rivalry at all.
India’s seven-wicket win in New York extends their sequence to seven straight victories against Pakistan in men’s internationals since the 2022 Asia Cup. With that streak in mind, Suryakumar expanded on his earlier comment: “Standards and rivalry are the same. According to me, if two teams play 15-20 matches and if [head-to-head] it is 7-7 or 8-7, then that is called a rivalry. But 13-0, 10-1… I don’t know what the stats are. But this is not a rivalry anymore. But yeah, I feel we played better cricket than them.”
That confidence was rooted in India’s response at the halfway stage of Pakistan’s innings. At ten overs, the scoreboard showed 91 for 1 – Pakistan’s best mid-innings return against India in T20Is. As the players grabbed drinks, Suryakumar gathered his side for a quick reset. “According to me, the turning point was in the first drinks in the first innings,” he explained. “People changed their body language after that. You always see the game changes generally after the powerplay. But today, the game changed after ten overs, when the bowlers changed their line and lengths, understood what was needed in that situation, and showed a little more energy. The spinners bowled well. And according to me, Shivam Dube’s spell, you can say that it was a turning point.”
Dube’s four-over stint was only the third time in 38 T20Is he has completed his allocation. It arrived on a day when Jasprit Bumrah’s radar was fractionally off: the seamer leaked 45 in his four overs, 34 of them inside the powerplay – his most expensive effort with the new ball. Dube filled the gap smartly, returning 2 for 33 and accounting for Saim Ayub and Sahibzada Farhan. The removal of Ayub broke a brisk 72-run stand; Farhan, having reached a half-century, miscued an off-cutter to mid-off in the fifteenth over.
“I think he has been working really hard on his bowling in all the practice sessions,” Suryakumar said of Dube. “And this was the perfect game where he got an opportunity. He always wanted to bowl at least two overs. And today he got to bowl his quota of overs, so he was very happy. And the way he delivered, I think he had very clear plans.”
Those plans were evident in subtle variations rather than magic deliveries. Dube kept a tight length just short of a good one, mixing slower-ball off-cutters with the occasional quicker bouncer. His control allowed India’s spinners – Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel – to squeeze from the other end; overs 11 to 17 cost only 38 runs, the leanest patch for any side in that phase at this tournament.
Former India opener Aakash Chopra, on commentary duty, noted that Pakistan’s spinners failed to offer a similar squeeze. “Pakistan’s spinners under-whelmed today,” he remarked during the broadcast, pointing out the absence of drift and the tendency to over-pitch.
Bumrah’s rare off day remained a footnote, partly because India’s seamers had extra cover from a fast outfield and large square boundaries. There was also protection in the score India posted – 189 for 5 – built around an anchoring fifty from Virat Kohli and late acceleration by Hardik Pandya.
Suryakumar, meanwhile, walked away satisfied but unswayed by talk of one-upmanship. The numbers, he argued, speak loudly enough.
