Suryakumar Yadav chose the perfect stage to prove his credentials in Abu Dhabi after being ignored by the national selectors for the tour of Australia.

His match-winning unbeaten 79 off 43 balls earned him the Man of the Match award but the 30-year-old remained calm even in his hour of glory.

“I was looking to finish games for a long time. I used to think how to do it. I needed to know my game completely and just go out and do it... Happy to have finished it today,” the Mumbai Indians batsman said.

Yadav said meditation helped him improve his batting. “I’ve been doing meditation, spending time on myself and that helps me out in the middle,” he said.

“The shots that stood out today were the one over covers against Chahal and the back-foot drive off Dale Steyn.

“I worked on my game a lot during the lockdown. Before that I used to prefer the on side... I have been loving the No. 3 position but I wanted to finish off the game, which is why I am glad with this effort.”

Mumbai Indians’ stand-in captain Kieron Pollard too lauded the team’s effort and Yadav’s batting.

“We have been playing total team game. Somebody is always there to pick us up...Imagine someone batting at that strike rate after two early wickets.

“Deep inside, Surya must be very disappointed not to have donned the blue for India. But he just keeps getting better. As an individual if you keep staying consistent, you will be rewarded. Nothing happens before its time,” Pollard said.

RCB captain Virat Kohli blamed their batting in the last five overs for their loss.

“It was a strange phase of batting (the last five overs of the RCB innings). Everything went to the fielders and these kind of things happen. They bowled in good areas in the last five overs and stopped us 20 runs short,” he said.

“We were in the game until the 17th over and that was a decent effort by our bowlers. We needed a few wickets there, but their batsmen did a good job. This is always going to happen... some teams peak early and some do better later,” Virat remarked.