There is something about Suryakumar Yadav at the Wankhede. Of the three single-digit scores he managed at the start of IPL 2023 when he had genuinely shown signs of struggles, only one came at the Wankhede, the venue he knows like the back of his hand given his domestic experience for Mumbai. But it was also this very venue which kickstarted his return to form, with that 43 off 25 against Kolkata Knight Riders. In his next seven matches in the tournament, he scored five fifty-plus scores, four of which came in Mumbai, where he converted the last one into a maiden IPL ton. The unbeaten knock of 103 eventually helped MI script a crucial 27-run win which took them closer to the playoffs.
The standout feature from that Suryakumar knock or the shot that had the internet talking was of course the ridiculous six he pulled off against Mohammed Shami. It was in the penultimate over of the innings when Shami pitched it up around off and in the slot. Suryakumar, with an open face of the bat, looked to play it over cover, but it ended up being a slice over third man area for a six. The stuff of genius, surely!
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But the reason behind the shot going viral was Sachin Tendulkar's reaction to it. The MI mentor was caught trying to understand what led to that shot with his hand gesture as he explained it to Piyush Chawla, who was seated next to him in the MI dressing room.
VIDEO: Sachin Tendulkar tries to decipher SKY's unrealistic six against GT in IPL 2023
Sachin, the mentor of MI, also tweeted about that particular shot after the match. “Suryakumar Yadav lit up the evening sky today! He played excellent shots through the innings but the one that stood out for me was the 6 over third man off Mohammed Shami. The way he opened the face of the bat to create that angle off the blade at the same time is very very tough to do and not many batters in world cricket can play that shot,” he tweeted.
{{/usCountry}}Sachin, the mentor of MI, also tweeted about that particular shot after the match. “Suryakumar Yadav lit up the evening sky today! He played excellent shots through the innings but the one that stood out for me was the 6 over third man off Mohammed Shami. The way he opened the face of the bat to create that angle off the blade at the same time is very very tough to do and not many batters in world cricket can play that shot,” he tweeted.
{{/usCountry}}There was a lot of dew on the ground and I knew what shots to play, I was not thinking about going straight, I had two shots in my mind - one over fine leg and one over third man," Suryakumar said as he explained that ridiculous shot after collecting the Player of the Match award.
Suryakumar reached his triple-figure mark in the last ball of the innings with a six over square leg. It was his first IPL century and fourth in his T20 career, with three others coming for the Indian team. The knock helped MI set a colossal 219-run target.
In reply, MI's bowlers started off on a stunning note reducing Gujarat to five down for just 55 in the 8th over. David Miller did provide some promise with his 26-ball 41 before Rashid Khan produced a stunning show with an IPL best of 79 off 32, but it wasn't enough for the visitors to script a win.