'This is a special win and will stay with me forever' - Suryakumar Yadav after India's 3-1 series win in South Africa

Suryakumar Yadav won his third consecutive series as the full-time captain of India's T20I side on Friday, November 15 at The Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. The Men in Blue defeated South Africa by 135 runs in the fourth and final T20I to take the series 3-1.

India won the first, third, and fourth matches in the series on the back of some stellar performances from the likes of Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma, and Varun Chakaravarthy among others. After Friday's epic victory, Suryakumar acknowledged that winning in South Africa is a challenging task. The 34-year-old said that he will remember the win against the Proteas forever.

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"It is very challenging when we tour South Africa, to come and win here. This is a special win and will stay with me forever. Though we were up 2-1 in the series, today we wanted to follow good habits and not worry about the result. It happened naturally," Suryakumar said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

The right-handed batter was asked about the role of the VVS Laxman-led support staff on the tour. Suryakumar said that the members of the support staff gave a free hand to the players and allowed them to run the show.

"They (support staff) were sitting and enjoying the show since the first day. They spoke to the boys and said whatever you want, you do, we will sit and enjoy. Even today, they said if you want to bat first and put runs on the board, do it," Suryakumar said.

A year to remember for India in T20Is

India amassed a whopping 283/1 in their 20 overs after opting to bat first in the fourth T20I. Samson (109*) and Tilak (120*) smashed scintillating centuries to help the Men in Blue post to a huge total. In reply, South Africa were bowled out for 148 as Arshdeep Singh (3/20) starred with a three-for.

This was India's last T20I assignment in 2024. They finished the year with 24 wins from 26 matches. Under Rohit Sharma's leadership, India won the T20 World Cup in June. After Suryakumar took over the T20I captaincy, India lost just one out of 10 matches.