Mumbai Indians star Suryakumar Yadav returned to his absolute best, scoring a 51-ball century against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to keep his side in the hunt for a spot in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 playoffs. Surya produced a rescue act for the Mumbai franchise after it had lost 3 wickets for just 31 runs against Hyderabad on Monday. Orchestrating a brilliant partnership with Tilak Varma, Surya smashed SRH bowlers all around the park to soar back in form. Seeing’s the MI star’s blitz, the cricket world went berserk, with South Africa pacer Wayne Parnell even asking for the batter’s DNA test to be done.
Surya was available for the first few games to the Mumbai Indians at the start of the season, and also took time to regain form. Against SRH, he proved why he is the No. 1 T20 batter in the world.
The likes of Irfan Pathan, Mohammad Kaif and Wayne Parnell all hailed Suryakumar for his destructive knock.
Speaking at the post-match presentation ceremony, Surya also quashed concerns around his fitness as he was spotted limping after the memorable hundred.
“I have done this after a long time. I fielded for 20 overs and batted for 18 overs, only tired (nothing else to worry about.) I feel it was the need of the hour for me. I went out to bat, needed someone to bat till the end. I just enjoyed my time. It’s from the Mumbai school of arts, have played a lot of cricket at Wankhede. When the ball stopped seaming, I played all my shots that I practice in the nets. I feel the intent would have been the same, I would have definitely played in the same pattern,” he said.
