IND vs HK: Analytical review of the Suryakumar-Kohli masterclass

Kohli and Suryakumar stitched an outstanding partnership (PC: Twitter)

India put on another emphatic show as they defeated Hong Kong in their second outing of the Asia Cup at the Dubai International Stadium, UAE. India won the match by 40 runs, but does the number justify India’s performance in the match? 

Let us take an analytical dive into the match and see how things panned out for the reigning champions.

Hong Kong won the toss and opted to field first in the match. They had the Indian batters under control till the 12th over of the innings, but then the partnership between Suryakumar Yadav and Virat Kohli  took the match away from them. 

Virat and Suryakumar partnership: The Game Changer

The duo got together when India’s score was 94 at the end of the 13th over. Virat and SKY put together 98 runs in just 45 balls. On the back of their brutal strokeplay, India reached the total of 192 runs in their 20 overs. Let us first look at how the two planned their partnership on a slowish pitch. 

Progression of the  Suryakumar and Virat partnership

The figure gives us a clear indication that the partnership between Kohli and Yadav was all about a positive approach. They never let the scoring rate dip for India. It was mainly Surya who was playing the role of aggressor but the supporting act by Kohli, where he kept the scoreboard ticking while rotating the strike was brilliant to watch. 

Scoring Areas

 It was quite evident that towards the end of the Indian innings, the pitch was getting slower. The right thing to do for the batters at this time was to play square of the wicket rather than trying to play on the up.

But what did the Indian duo do? The scoring areas of the partnership will give us a clear idea. 

Scoring areas of the partnership

60% of the runs in the partnership came square of the wicket. This shows how nicely Kohli and Surya gauged the conditions. 

Special mention will of course be made of SKY for all the fancy tricks he pulled out of his bag to score most of the runs behind the wicket. But the fact that the flamboyance of Surya did not affect Kohli and he just went about his business in his own way speaks about the greatness of the man. It was a treat to watch the two batters providing a powerful finish for India. 

Area of Concern

While India might have won the match by 40 runs, they had a big concern in the match. It was the performance of the two young pacers in Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan. The two bowlers bowled 8 overs in total and conceded 97 runs in them while picking up just two wickets.

So, how should the team management handle these two players going ahead?

Arshdeep Singh

Let us compare his career record with what he did in this match. 

Arshdeep Singh comparison 

So, as the stats suggest Arshdeep has been brilliant with the ball so far in his career in the shortest format of the game. Today was just an off day for the young man. Indian team management should and will probably back him further.

Avesh Khan

Avesh Khan comparison

The stats give us a clear picture of Avesh Khan in the international arena. In his short career he has failed to hit the right rhythm in most of the matches. Hence, it is probably time for the team management to take some hard decisions regarding Avesh. Probably let him return to the domestic circuit and allow him the time to work on his line, length and variation and come back stronger.  

Also Read: Dinesh Karthik opens up on the challenges of being a specialist finisher in T20s