Suryakumar Yadav produced a magnificent display of power-hitting during the game against Gujarat Titans on Friday night, smashing an unbeaten 103 off just 49 balls. This was Suryakumar‘s maiden century in the Indian Premier League, and the one that helped MI climb to third spot in the table, with two more games remaining. Suryakumar’s knock steered the MI to a mammoth score of 218/5, as the side eventually registered a 27-run win over the defending champions.
(MI Twitter)
The 32-year-old batter displayed a range of shots as he smashed the Titans bowlers all around the park; he scored his last 50 runs in merely 15 deliveries, racing to his second fifty of the innings within the final three overs. Following his knock, the fans and former cricketers hailed Suryakumar and Harbhajan Singh, who had begun his IPL career with the Mumbai Indians in 2008, made a massive remark on the star batter.
“I can only bow down to him. Keep going. He’s almost single-handedly steering MI’s campaign. It’s not as if others aren’t performing, but Suryakumar is operating at a different level. He’s unbelievable and unstoppable. I’ve lost out of words to praise him. Salute to him,” Harbhajan said on his official YouTube channel.
The former India off-spinner also claimed that Suryakumar is currently the “biggest” name in the Mumbai Indians, and made a massive comparison between Suryakumar and India great Sachin Tendulkar.
“I hope he remains fit and keep winning matches for MI. Because the chant of ‘Surya, Surya’ reverberates the whole ground the moment he comes to bat. Earlier, it used to be ‘Sachin, Sachin’, and then ‘Malinga, Malinga’. Now, it’s Suryakumar Yadav. There’s no bigger name than Suryakumar in Mumbai Indians right now. He’s winning everyone’s hearts with his performances,” said Harbhajan.
Suryakumar had arrived in the 2023 Indian Premier League after a forgettable outing for India against Australia – where he endured three back-to-back golden ducks – however, he has since made a splendid comeback with the bat. He has scored 479 runs in the season so far in 12 matches, at a brilliant strike rate of 190.84.
