Suryakumar Yadav producing baffling shots is not new. He’s not called a 360 degree player for nothing. His range and shot-making is sensational and despite having seen it all before, you end up scratching your head when more comes in. It was the case on Friday at the Wankhede Stadium.
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And that person who has seen it all before was Sachin Tendulkar. Just when everyone thought Suryakumar Yadav would go an entire innings without a jaw-dropping shot, he found one in the 19th over against the Gujarat Titans at the Wankhede Stadium.
With Mohammed Shami darting in, Suryakumar stepped away slightly to the leg side for the outside off delivery, created room and looked to play a lofted drive. Except, he brought his wrists into play at almost the last moment to slice underneath the ball and hit it over short third man. Over short third man and all the way for a six.
How do you hit a cover drive but get it over third man for six?
We watched SKY do it here and still can’t understand. What about you? #IPLonJioCinema #MIvGT pic.twitter.com/kg9QU7jxuW
— JioCinema (@JioCinema) May 12, 2023
In the TV coverage, MI mentor Sachin Tendulkar appeared to gesture trying to understand or explain that shot to Piyush Chawla in the dugout. Tendulkar referred to that shot in a tweet later, “Suryakumar Yadav lit up the evening sky today! He played excellent shots through the innings but the one that stood out for me was the 6 over third man off Mohammed Shami. The way he opened the face of the bat to create that angle off the blade at the same time is very very tough to do and not many batters in world cricket can play that shot.”
.@surya_14kumar lit up the evening sky today!
He played excellent shots through the innings but the one that stood out for me was the 6 over third man off @MdShami11.The way he opened the face of the bat to create that angle off the blade at the same time is very very tough to…
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) May 12, 2023
Asked to explain the shot in the post-match ceremony, Suryakumar said: “There was a lot of dew on the ground and I knew what shots to play, I was not thinking about going straight, I had two shots in my mind – one over fine leg and one over third man.”
A that wowed teammates, fans and opponents alike
Take a bow #SuryakumarYadav #MIvGT #IPLonJioCinema | @surya_14kumar pic.twitter.com/kwUuMfTGKz
— JioCinema (@JioCinema) May 12, 2023
An over later, on the last ball of the innings, Suryakumar Yadav brought up his fourth T20 and first IPL hundred with yet another baffling six. Alzarri Joseph found a a wide yorker and then witnessed Suryakumar step across, get down on one knee to sweep it over the backward square leg boundary for a maximum!
This one’s for you,
for the loudest cheer! pic.twitter.com/SPN6gD3HMb— Surya Kumar Yadav (@surya_14kumar) May 12, 2023
Suryakumar’s knock helped MI set a massive 219 run target to chase for the defending champions Gujarat Titans. In their defence, MI bowlers reduced GT to 55/5 to all but ensure the game was in the big.
David Miller (26-ball 41) and Rashid Khan (79 off 32 balls) tried to salvage the situation with a fantastic comeback but it wasn’t enough as MI won by 27 runs.
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