After enduring a lean phase earlier this year, Suryakumar Yadav has found form in the ongoing Indian Premier League season. On Tuesday, the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai was witness to yet another masterful Suryakumar T20 knock as he led the Mumbai Indians to a commanding victory over the Royal Challengers Bangalore. And it left Faf du Plessis in awe, as he said the Mumbaikar makes opposing captains go grey.
IPL 2023: Suryakumar Yadav’s freak innings guides MI to big win vs RCB – ‘He reaches for the SKY’
Chasing 200 to win in their 20 overs, MI banked on Yadav’s 35-ball 83 to reach the target with 21 balls to spare. Yadav was ably supported by Nehal Wadhera who scored his second fifty of the season as MI became the first team to chase 200 or more runs in a single IPL season. The five-time champions also broke the record for the fastest 200+ chase and the second-fastest chase in T20 history.
RCB captain Faf du Plessis said of Yadav, “He’s one of the best. When he gets going, he’s really difficult to bowl too. He makes the captain extremely grey because he has got so many options, you don’t feel like you can shut him down.”
“Loved it. It was much-needed one. It was important from the team’s point of view to come here, play the home game and win it like this,” player of the match Yadav said at the post-match presentation.
After the RCB bowlers got rid of openers Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan for 52 runs inside five overs, Yadav and Wadhera took charge of the chase. In a bid to prevent the pair from taking advantage of a batting pitch, RCB bowlers tried to take the pace off the ball and invite the MI batters to take risks.
However, Yadav and Wadhera negated RCB’s plan by finding the gaps at regular intervals to keep the scoreboard ticking.
“They came up with a plan and they knew they had to bowl slow, make me hit towards the bigger boundary and not give me pace at that time. Nehal and I spoke about their plan to bowl slow and decided to hit the ball hard in the gaps and run hard. If we get boundaries, good otherwise we are getting singles and doubles,” Yadav said.
Yadav’s innings was typically laced with audacious shots all around the park as he toyed with the field and he said it is something he tries to simulate during practice.
“Your practice has to be the same what you do in the matches. I don’t do anything different when I practice. I know where my runs are. We have open net training sessions and I place my fielders and try and come out of my comfort zone and hit. I know my game, I know where my runs are and I don’t do anything different,” he added.
Third-placed MI next host league leaders Gujarat Titans on Friday while seventh-placed RCB travel to Jaipur to face fifth-placed Rajasthan Royals on Sunday.
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