NEW DELHI: Legendary batsman Sunil Gavaskar on Wednesday said
Mumbai Indians batter and Mr 360 degree
Suryakumar Yadav looked like playing “gully cricket” during his
majestic knock against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Suryakumar smashed 83 runs off just 35 balls — his highest IPL score — in Mumbai Indians’ six-wicket win over RCB and was adjudged the Man of the Match. His knock was studded with 7 fours and 6 maximums.
“SKY was toying with the bowlers. He gives you a feeling of gully cricket when he’s batting like that. He’s just gotten better with practice and hard work,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports’ Cricket Live.
“His bottom hand is so powerful that he uses it to perfection. Against RCB, he started with hitting towards long-on and long-off and later agricultured shots all around the park.”
MI vs RCB IPL 2023 Highlights: Suryakumar’s blitz fires Mumbai to third spot
The legendary batter and former India captain said Suryakumar’s red-hot form rubbed off on youngster Nehal Wadhera (52 not out off 34 balls) who also smashed his second fifty of the season.
The duo strung a partnership of 140 runs to put MI in the driver’s seat in the run chase.
“When you are batting with SKY your confidence is boosted, but the best thing about Nehal Wadhera’s innings was that he wasn’t looking to play shots like SKY. The best thing about him is that his balance was superb,” said Gavaskar.
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IPL 2023: Suryakumar Yadav blitz helps Mumbai Indians thrash Royal Challengers Bangalore
Show Captions
<p>Suryakumar Yadav hammered 83 off 35 balls as Mumbai Indians thrashed Royal Challengers Bangalore by six wickets on Tuesday to jump from eighth to third in the IPL points table. Photo credit: Raju Shinde</p>
<p>RCB skipper Faf du Plessis (65) and Glenn Maxwell (68) lit up the first innings after put into bat. Photo credit: Raju Shinde</p>
<p>The in-form Du Plessis survived a dropped catch on nought before he hit back and registered his sixth half-century of the season. Photo credit: Raju Shinde</p>
<p>Maxwell greeted Chris Jordan with two sixes in his opening over but the pace bowler pulled things back in his final two and dismissed Dinesh Karthik (30). Photo credit: Raju Shinde</p>
<p>Jason Behrendorff struck early with two wickets including that of Virat Kohli (1), as he returned figures of 3/36. </p>
<p>At 16/2, Du Plessis and Maxwell combined to punish the Mumbai attack, hitting seven sixes between them in their fourth century partnership of the season. Photo credit: Raju Shinde</p>
<p>Chasing 200 to win, Suryakumar put on a blistering stand of 140 with Nehal Wadhera (52*), as Mumbai romped home with 21 balls to spare at Wankhede Stadium. Photo credit: Raju Shinde</p>
<p>Suryakumar’s blitz laced with six sixes was his IPL best and made RCB’s 199/6 look a small total. Photo credit: Raju Shinde</p>
<p>Opener Ishan Kishan hit a quick-fire 42 but Mumbai slipped to 52/2 when skipper Rohit Sharma fell for seven to extend his batting slump. Photo credit: Raju Shinde</p>
<p>However, Suryakumar and the left-handed Wadhera soon revived the chase and took the attack to the opposition. </p>
<p>Once settled, Suryakumar burst into life to reach his 50 in 26 balls and kept up the charge with a string of sixes and fours. </p>
<p>Suryakumar fell with his team needing eight more to win and Tim David got out for a duck, but Wadhera hit the winning six to bring up his fifty. Photo credit: Raju Shinde</p>
Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh also spoke highly of the 22-year-old Wadhera for grabbing the opportunity with both hands and repaying the faith of MI team management.
“Nehal Wadhera has made most of the opportunities count. He was being fast-tracked from U-25 to Punjab Ranji Trophy and MI scouted him well. He just made the opportunities count in the absence of Tilak Varma,” said Harbhajan.
(With inputs from PTI)
