SKY Show in Wankhede: Suryakumar Yadav Ton crushes Sunrisers, delights Indians

On May 7, 2024By Vaseline

When the hour comes, the man comes. Suryakumar Yadav stepped out with a great ton at the Wankhede to give Mumbai Indians their fourth win of IPL 2024.

Riding on Suryakumar’s unbeaten 102, MI swept aside Sunrisers Hyderabad by 7 wickets on Monday evening.

Suryakumar Yadav showed 360 degree batting, something he is known for. The stylish batsman scored his century in 51 balls and won the Player of the Match award.

Surya storming in top form will delight both MI and the Indian men’s cricket team, who will participate in the T20 World Cup next month.

The 33-year-old ace is an integral part of India’s T20I line-up and will play an important role in the upcoming T20 showpiece co-hosted by the US and the Caribbean.

If India want to lift the trophy, Surya’s bat needs to do a lot of talking.

What makes Surya’s century so special?

Sports Hernia Recovery

Surya has had a tough few months ahead of the IPL. He underwent sports hernia surgery and had a long recovery period. The right-hander was away from cricket and was playing the waiting game to achieve full fitness and get back on the field.

He also had to sit out the first few matches for MI in the ongoing IPL. And in the games he initially played, Surya was brought in as an Impact Sub to manage his workload.

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Surya is happy with the innings he played against SRH in Wankhede.

“I’ve been doing this for a long time,” SKY said during the post-match presentation.

“After December 14, this is the first time I fielded 20 overs and batted 18 overs. But I’m doing well. I feel like it was the need of the hour for me to win. There were three wickets lost and I had to play till the end,” he added.

MI’s batting coach Kieron Pollard also praised the star batsman after his stunning century.

“His stroke was phenomenal. He played the situation pretty much perfectly going into it,” Pollard told the media at the post-match press conference.

“It was a tricky situation with the ball spinning around and moving a little bit. He was hit a few times, but kept his nerve, and that’s the kind of discipline we’re asking for. Then he started his work on maneuvering the field, positioning the gaps and counter-attacking. But it’s no surprise to us; that’s how he practices and plays. And when he scores, and he scores big, you often come out on the winning side,” Pollard added.

Focus shifted to T20 WC?

With MI being far away from play-off contention, the silver lining to Surya’s innings saw him return to form just before the T20 World Cup.

Surya has scored 334 runs in 9 matches in this IPL so far with a fantastic strike rate of 176.72 and his latest performance would have surely delighted the Indian team management.

But have the players themselves already shifted their focus to the T20 World Cup? Pollard says no.

“At the end of the day, we are all here to play the entire IPL,” Pollard said. “Sometimes when we think too far ahead, like when thinking about World Cups, all these things can affect performance. The most important thing is to complete the IPL and let’s see what happens next.”

Surya has the ability to single-handedly take the game away from the opponent and he has done that both in the IPL and at international level.

In the 60 T20Is that Surya has played for India, he has amassed 2141 runs at an average of 45.55 and a strike-rate of 171.55.