'What they did was commendable': Gambhir lauds India's middle-order duo for scoring 'difficult runs'

India vs England: Gautam Gambhir says India put up a 'perfect' batting display in the fifth T20I against England in Ahmedabad.

Impressed with India's performance in the series decider on Saturday, Gautam Gambhir feels Virat Kohli's team put up a 'perfect' batting display against England in Ahmedabad. Put in to bat, India posted a mammoth score of 224/2 – their highest total against England in T20Is – with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma peeling off half-centuries.

Gautam Gambhir. (Getty Images)

Rohit and Kohli put on 94 runs for the opening wicket, before Sharma played on. From there, Kohli took control of proceedings and remained not out till the end, scoring 80 off 52 balls. However, as good a knock that was from Kohli, Gambhir feels India wouldn't have been able to get to the daunting total had it not been for the contributions from Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya.

"I’m not going to take anything away from Virat Kohli but then he had people like Suryakumar Yadav. There wasn’t a single phase in these 20 overs where England was in control," Gambhir said in a video on ESPNCricinfo.

"Mostly there have been times when a team gets off to a flier – six overs 60 runs – but there is a phase after those six overs, where the team tries to push it back, especially the bowling team. But if you see Suryakumar Yadav’s innings, if you can get that 30-odd off 17 balls and you can continue that same momentum, it’s always difficult."

Playing his second innings in international cricket, Suryakumar raced to 32 off 17 balls with three fours and two sixes and added 49 quick runs with skipper Kohli before getting out to Adil Rashid. Then came Pandya, who smoked 39 not out off 17 balls, hitting four boundaries and two sixes, and along with Kohli, allowed India to continue scoring at a healthy run-rate till the end. While Gambhir gave Kohli the credit for playing anchor, he feels Suryakumar and Pandya's innings made a huge difference.

'It’s easy for Virat Kohli because he’s been in and he’s batted for six overs. But suddenly after coming out to bat after six overs, and playing at that tempo and Hardik Pandya coming in and playing on that tempo, it’s a different ball game," Gambhir said.

"Yes, Kohli batted throughout and you expect Virat to do that. If he bats through, he will get a strike rate of probably 140. But then it’s those difficult runs which I was mentioning about, how important it is after six overs. So what they – Surya and Hardik – did was commendable. Can’t be perfect that this… from start till the end."