“I had to play till the end,” says SKY after the match-winning ton against SRH

MUMBAI: Suryakumar Yadav has said it was the need of the hour for him to bat the way he did, playing traditional shots at the start before unleashing the trademark 360-degree stroke to help Mumbai Indians (MI) to a win of seven wickets against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the IPL 2024 match at the Wankhede Stadium here.

Suryakumar scored an unbeaten 102 off 51 balls and lifted a partnership of 143 runs with Tilak Varma (37 off 32 balls) as MI reached 174/3 in 17.2 overs after skipper Hardik Pandya (3-31) and Piyush Chawla combined well to restrict the competition SRH to 173/8 in 20 overs.

Mumbai were in trouble at 31/3 and lost Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma and Naman Dhir cheaply. But Suryakumar initially started cautiously but later uncorked some sensational shots to guide the hosts to a memorable victory.

“I feel it was the need of the hour for me to win. Three wickets were out and I had to play till the end. I knew the dew was heavy and I had to bat until the seam came undone. Traditional shots came from Mumbai school of arts,” said Suryakumar, who was named Player of the Match for his mesmerizing knock.

On releasing the shots towards the end of the innings, SKY said he waited until the seam of the ball had disappeared and the dew had taken its full effect before going after the bowling. “I knew what to do when the ball was seaming and then brought out all the shots I practiced. I think the intention would have been the same. As the overs had gone by it would have been easier, and I would have had great but the way I did it today,” he said.

Although he was seen limping and looking grim during his batting, the world’s best T20 batsman said it was only due to fatigue as he was on the field for a long time. Suryakumar had missed the first few matches of the IPL season as he had suffered an injury during the South African series in December 2023 and later underwent surgery for a sports hernia in Germany.

“I have been doing this for a long time. After December 14, this is the first time I played 20 overs and batted 18 overs. I just felt tired. But I am doing well,” Suryakumar said.

Indian cricket fans would pray that he would continue to bat in the same spirit in the coming months as India will be heading to the T20 World Cup soon after the IPL and Suryakumar will have to play a crucial role for the team if India were to do so. go all out in the mega event.