After a scratchy start to the season, Suryakumar Yadav regained his form in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. In the clash against Gujarat Titans (GT) on May 12, Suryakumar played an exceptional shot en route his maiden IPL century. Suryakumar hit Mohammed Shami’s good length delivery over third man for a six. The shot stunned everyone including Mumbai Indians (MI) mentor Sachin Tendulkar. The ‘Master Blaster’ was explaining in the dressing room how Surya pulled him off. His gesture went viral on social media.
Before the clash against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at Ekana Cricket Stadium, Suryakumar revealed to JioCinemas that he has played that shot before but never got the exact result as he got against Shami.
“I have played that shot many times in my mind already. I always try to play the field. At that moment, the ball was wet and they had little options in hand...I knew that they would go for that yorker length and I was ready for that because I have played against him before. I have actually played this shot before as well, but not that fine. It went towards the point region,” the 32-year-old said.
Suryakumar's unbeaten 49-ball 103 helped MI beat GT by 27 runs at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. The 32-year-old has been one of the main reasons behind MI's comeback in IPL 2023. Before the LSG clash, he had scored 479 runs from 12 innings at an average of 43.55 including one century and four half-centuries. He has scored at a stupendous strike rate of 190.84.
If Suryakumar scores 44 more runs in the season, it will be his best season with the bat. In IPL 2018, he had scored 512 runs from 14 matches at an average of 36.57 including four half-centuries.
“I was not thinking about hitting straight, I had two shots in the mind - one over fine leg and one over third man. There is lots and lots of practice before the game, so when I come into the game I am very clear and just go express myself,” Suryakumar had earlier said after his match-winning century against defending champions GT.
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