Suryakumar Yadav praises Ramandeep Singh for his cameo as substitute fielder after 1st T20I against South Africa

Team India, led by Suryakumar Yadav, took a 1-0 lead in the four-match T20I series against South Africa on Friday. After the win, the Indian skipper took to social media and posted a story praising Ramandeep Singh. The 27-year-old didn’t get a chance to play the game but came out as a substitute fielder at the end of the game. 

Ramandeep was seen wearing the best fielders medal inside the dressing room, Yadav wrote, “Didn’t play the game, came out to field for a few overs and has set a benchmark”. Yadav could be seen standing with Ramandeep as the pair posed for a picture. 

Sanju Samson scored a memorable ton which was his 2nd in T20I cricket in as many games. The knock came off 50 balls as Samson helped India reach a massive score of 202 on the board. Varun Chakravarthy and Ravi Bishnoi picked three wickets each to help India win by 61 runs. 

Suryakumar Yadav praises Sanju Samson's batting

India’s skipper Suryakumar Yadav was in full praise for his wicketkeeper and star batter Sanju Samson at the end of the game. Yadav said, “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”

Samson, who was given man of the match, during the presentation said, “Really enjoyed my time in the middle. Playing it well, maximum utilisation of my current form you can say. The intent, we have been talking about being aggressive and keeping the team ahead of yourselves. Once you play three balls you are looking for the boundary, I'm not thinking much, sometimes it pays off, sometimes it doesn't, happy it worked out well today.”

India and South Africa move to Gqeberha to play the second game on Saturday. The team will focus on keeping the same intensity. South Africa on the other hand will look to work on their errors as their bowling let them down on Friday during the 1st game.