St Vincent [Kingstown], June 22 (ANI): Days after the 47-run loss against India in the Super Eights match of the T20 World Cup 2024, Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan decoded their previous match and said that Men in Blue batter Suryakumar Yadav changed the tempo of the game.

Suryakumar scored 53 runs from 28 balls at a strike rate of 189.29 against Afghanistan on Thursday. He slammed 5 fours and 3 sixes during his time on the crease. The right-handed batter's knock came to an end in the 17th over after Fazalhaq Farooqi removed him from the crease.

Afghanistan will take on Australia in their upcoming match of the Super Eights at the Arnos Vale Ground on Sunday.

Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Rashid said that Afghanistan started well in the game but Suryakumar Yadav came in the middle of the first inning and changed the momentum of the game.

The Afghan skipper added that the right-handed India batter always believes in his skills.

"I think we started very well with the ball. But in the middle, when Surya came, that's how he plays. He changed the tempo of the game, and he tries to play his shots. And I think that's something which makes him the unique player. He believes in his skills. It doesn't matter wherever he plays, whatever the condition is, that's how much belief he has on his skills. I think it's the same thing as we have in the batting, especially top order," Rashid said.

Afghanistan were placed in the Group of the T20 World Cup 2024 along with West Indies, New Zealand, Uganda and Papua New Guinea. They finished in second place on the points table after sealing three wins in four games.

Recapping the match, India won the toss and elected to bat first. India were struggling at 90/4 at one point and then came a match-saving 60-run partnership between Suryakumar Yadav (53 in 28 balls, with five fours and three sixes) and Hardik Pandya (32 in 24 balls, with three fours and two sixes) that took India to 181/8 in their 20 overs.

Rashid Khan (3/26) and Fazalhaq Farooqi (3/33) were the top bowlers for Afghanistan.

In the run-chase of 182 runs, Afghanistan never looked threatening and lost wickets regularly. Azmatullah Omarzai (26 in 20 balls, with two fours and a six) was the only one to cross the 20-run mark as other batters failed miserably against Bumrah (3/7), Arshdeep (3/36) and Kuldeep Yadav (2/32). Afghanistan were bundled out for 134 runs in their 20 overs.

Suryakumar Yadav was given the 'Player of the Match' award. (ANI)