ABU DHABI: Mumbai Indians' skipper Kieron Pollard praised Suryakumar Yadav's match-winning knock against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and said the latter showed the "burning desire" to play for the Indian team.
During the Indian Premier League (IPL) clash on Wednesday, Suryakumar played an unbeaten knock of 79 runs against RCB as Mumbai Indians chased down a total of 165 with five wickets in hand and five balls to spare.
"I think it was very, very valuable... Today, he showed his class and how well he can bat and the deep down inside the burning desire to don that blue (jersey). He continues to show consistency," Pollard said during the post-match press conference.
Also, soon after Yadav's innings, India head coach Ravi Shastri had asked the Mumbai Indians' batsman to be patient to get a national team call-up.
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"Surya namaskar. Stay strong and patient @surya_14kumar #MIvsRCB," Shastri had tweeted.
On Monday, the selection committee had announced the squads for all three formats for the upcoming series between India and Australia.
Suryakumar Yadav did not find a place in the white-ball squad and as a result, many users on social media started to ask as to why Suryakumar has not been selected even after consistent performances in domestic cricket and IPL.
Mumbai Indians had suffered a defeat in the previous match and Pollard stressed that they wanted to come back stronger from that defeat.
"After a defeat in the last game, we wanted to come back stronger," Pollard said.