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The Mumbai wizard put on another clinic in distance hitting as he blasted an unbeaten 61 off 25 balls in the 71-run stand that gave India a semi-final against England.
With 225 runs, Yadav is now second only to teammate Virat Kohli (246) in the tournament’s runs list for players who only participated in the Super 12 phase.
However, his strike rate of 193.96 leaves everyone in the shade, and will give England’s bowlers plenty of food for thought ahead of Thursday’s semi-final in Adelaide.
Hitting a six at the great Melbourne Cricket Ground is no mean feat, but Yadav sent four of them sailing over the ropes, including an outrageous ramp of a wide full toss off the last ball of Richard Ngarava .
This sent India’s huge army of supporters jumping onto the terraces and drew coach Rahul Dravid to superlatives.
“To score at a strike rate that he does, it’s not easy to be consistent,” Dravid told reporters.
“He is very clear about his tactics.
“I think he just really deserves the rewards for a lot of the hard work he’s put in on and off the field, and long may it continue.
“He’s been absolutely phenomenal for us and he’s just a joy to watch.
“He puts on a show, no doubt.”
With the match a dead rubber after South Africa were eliminated due to a shock defeat by the Netherlands, India picked back-up wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant for his first match and chose to bat first against Zimbabwe.
With opener KL Rahul scoring 51 along with Yadav’s half-century, India’s batsmen scored 186 for five before Zimbabwe were bowled out for 115 in the 18th over.
Dravid said India may make changes for the England clash depending on the Adelaide pitch, but the team’s mindset will remain consistent.
“At this level, most of these guys are incredibly motivated,” he said.
“You don’t have to tell them to do anything extra.”
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