Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], January 22 (ANI): Former Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin said that skipper Suryakumar Yadav's 22-ball 32 took the 'monkey off his back' as he had come into the series battling serious form issues, averaging only over 13 in the last 21 matches. He also noted that the Indian captain 'looked in his element' while batting, hitting four boundaries and a six in his knock.

India continued their winning ways with a 48-run win over the Kiwis and took a 1-0 lead in the five-match series on the back of fine knocks from Abhishek Sharma (84 in 35 balls) and Rinku Singh (44* in 20 balls), reaching 238/7. In the chase, Glenn Phillips (78 in 39 balls) and Mark Chapman (39 in 24 balls) threatened to take the game closer than anticipated, but the bowling line-up did the containment job well, restricting NZ to 190/7.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, 'Ash ki Baat', Ashwin said Surya could have gone for a fifty, but he kept hitting, living upto his team's motto of chasing no milestones, and termed the knock a 'big positive'.

'It is a monkey off the back. A lot of people were talking about Suryakumar's batting and his form and all of that. In all honesty, in T20 cricket, you don't have to aim for consistency. What I liked was that he got those runs; he looked in good touch today. If a batter wants to look to get runs, they would have looked to get a fifty. But Surya did not do that. This team has a theme, they will look to keep scoring and hitting. He looked in his element. He looked good and this is a big positive for him.'

In his last 20 innings, this marked only the third time he touched the 30-run mark.

The former spinner Ashwin feels that this is the team India will carry for the T20 World Cup this year, and he does not want Arshdeep Singh to be rotated with Harshit Rana, calling the former a 'marquee bowler who cannot be left out'.

'Maybe there will surely be a conversation to bring in a bowler, seeing how (Shivam) Dube's bowling goes. But he got three overs today. So they are backing his bowling, and I think there are conversations around him bowling. This is probably the combination,' he added.

Ashwin also said that after a poor ODI series against the Kiwis, in which Kuldeep took just three wickets at an average of above 60, and an economy rate of 7.28, his missing the first T20I is a 'break to reflect upon'

'But I am a big fan (of Kuldeep). You will have to get strong as a pack in T20 cricket and address the strengths somewhere else. If you do not have Jasprit Bumrah or someone else, then you have to address with a bit of batting depth. But in this team, you are getting runs in the powerplay, Hardik (Pandya) is scoring, you have seven bowling options. I would like to play Bumrah, Arshdeep (Singh), Varun (Chakravarthy), and Kuldeep. But if it is like today, then it is absolutely fine,' he said.

Coming to the match, NZ elected to field first. Incredible knocks from Abhishek Sharma (84 in 35 balls, with five fours and eight sixes) and Rinku Singh (44* in 20 balls, with four boundaries and three sixes) along with important cameos from skipper Suryakumar Yadav (32 in 22 balls, with four boundaries and a six) and Hardik Pandya (25 in 16 balls, with three fours and a six) took India to 238/7 in 20 overs.

Jacob Duffy (2/27) and Kyle Jamieson (2/54) were the top bowlers for NZ.

During the chase, the Kiwis were down at 52/3, but a 79-run stand between Phillips and Mark Chapman (39 in 24 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) gave the Kiwis a glimmer of hope. However, Chakravarthy (2/37) and Arshdeep Singh (1/31) delivered fine spells to restrict NZ to 190/7 in 20 overs, giving India a win and a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. (ANI)