'It was more about timing the ball, not breaking the ball.'
India skipper Suryakumar Yadav urged his teammates to remain on the fearless on the cricket pitch, and was happy to see the batting depth rescuing the team against South Africa in the first T20 International in Cuttack on Tuesday.
Hardik Pandya smashed a blistering 28-ball 59 not out as India posted 175 for six before bowling out South Africa for 74 in 12.3 overs for a thumping 101-run win in the series opener.
"I said at the toss that we were 50:50 but happy to bat. At 48 for 3 and to get 175, was great. We thought we would get to 160, but 175 was unbelievable," Suryakumar said during the post-match presentation.
India found themselves in trouble on 104 for five before Pandya's counter-attack rallied them to a fighting total.
"With 7-8 batters, there will be days when the other batters cover it up. We want everyone to be fearless and enjoy their batting," he added.
Explaining why he didn't bowl Pandya in the Powerplay, the India skipper stated: "I think Arshdeep and Bumrah were the perfect bowlers in the Powerplay. Hardik coming back later on, him coming back from injury we had to take care of him."
Returning to international cricket after recovering from a quadricep injury, Pandya smashed six fours and four sixes to lift India to 175 for six.
"I had to back my shots. I realised the wicket had a bit of spice. I had to be a bit gutsy. It was more about timing the ball, not breaking the ball. I was very satisfied with the way I was batting," he said.
Pandya had missed tours to Australia and the ODIs against South Africa after sustaining a left quadriceps injury during the Asia Cup in September.
"The last six-seven months have been great from my fitness point of view. These last 50 days, being away from loved ones, being at NCA, making sure that all these things are covered. It was satisfying when you come here, the results come like this."
On not bowling in the Powerplay, Pandya said: "As a cricketer, I have never been fussy about what roles I have in the game. I have always been motivated to make sure that it doesn't matter what Hardik Pandya wants, it is about what India wants.
"The mindset helps me. I have always tried to put my team first. That is my biggest USP and that is what has helped me."
South Africa skipper Aiden Markram blamed the lack of partnerships for the heavy loss but said he was keen to move on quickly ahead of the second game.
"Nice to start the way we did. We put some emphasis on starting well, and that was a box we ticked. From a batting point of view, it's unfortunately something that can happen in this format," Markram said.
"It's a pity that it had to happen in the first game, but you have to draw a line through it. It's a quick turnaround and we'll give it another crack in a couple of days' time."
Talking about the wicket, Markram said: "I felt it (the pitch) was quite sticky. That steep tennis-ball bounce and a little bit there with the ball throughout the innings. 175, I suppose we would have taken it.
"We would've backed ourselves to chase that down. You can always nitpick and find areas where you feel it could have been better to reduce it by 10-15 runs, but we would have taken that."
South Africa's 74 was their lowest total in T20 Internationals.
"We just needed to be better with the bat, and unfortunately that wasn't the case. It's quite hard. Nowadays in T20 cricket, there's not much time to look around and absorb," Markram said.
"But the biggest factor was obviously not being able to build partnerships, settling after losing wickets and getting some momentum on our side.
"So yeah, we'll have brief conversations tomorrow. You don't want to dive too deep into things like this. You almost just want to draw a line through it and stick to the positive ways of this format," he added.
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