Kolkata, Oct. 30 -- Cut short by rain but till the time Suryakumar Yadav was batting, he wasn't looking anywhere close to a man who hadn't scored a fifty in his last 14 innings and averaged only 10.50 during that time. This India team has made it a mission to not overtly rely on any one player but the captain going through a slump of such proportions after spending the better part of 2024 as the No.1 batter had to be addressed sooner or later. Canberra seemed to have finally triggered that correction phase. Choosing to continue batting at No.3 on a pitch spicier than the ones in Dubai where he had scored 1 and 12 in the last two innings of the Asia Cup couldn't have been easy. But Surya is one of those rare Indian batters to possess better strike rates away from Asia - 203.27 in New Zealand, 201.17 in England and 185.33 in Australia. His home strike rate is 168.38. The even bounce is a huge factor behind that, but more consequential is the natural zip on the ball that triggers Surya's superlative instincts. It isn't without its share of risk though. The ball that Josh Hazlewood got to pitch on length around off and hold its line was genuinely good, and Surya should probably be grateful it only beat the outside edge despite his poking at it with a closed bat. The shot that he followed it up with though was a stupendous response, timing his flick to such perfection that it sent Hazlewood's back of a length delivery sailing over deep square leg for six. By now passing showers had started distracting India's innings but Shubman Gill was growing in self-assurance after Abhishek Sharma (19 off 13) had fallen to a slower ball from Nathan Ellis. Hazlewood got a false shot off him early into the innings, but Ellis drifted on to his pads, allowing Gill to help himself to an easy boundary. A full toss from Marcus Stoinis was just the sort of dolly he needed to build on the start, slapping it wide of mid-off for four. Surya took a cue from that over, slog sweeping left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann for a boundary. But the real unshackling moment came when he was dropped by Josh Philippe, who did well to run back to the left from mid-on and stretch full length but couldn't hold on to Surya's top edge. Ellis returned, probably in search of another breakthrough, but by then the India skipper had already moved into top gear. Taking pace off the ball was Ellis's strength, but Surya waited till the last moment before unleashing a cut over backward point that proved to be too long for the sweeper. Next delivery, Ellis went for a length ball wider outside the off stump, but Surya again waited and belted it down the ground for four. Ellis was on the backfoot but more significantly, his shortcomings had been exposed in a matter of two deliveries. So, when he went back to a slower length ball, Surya was waiting deep inside the crease to muscle it over midwicket for a massive six. The match was washed out but that six rounded off just the sort of innings needed to shore up India's hopes Down Under....