"It seemed the team will get stuck when Ishan Kishan got out" - Aakash Chopra lauds Suryakumar Yadav's knock in Mumbai Indians' win vs RR

Suryakumar Yadav's half-century helped MI register their first win in IPL 2022 [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra has lauded Suryakumar Yadav for playing a dazzling knock during the Mumbai Indians' (MI) run chase in Saturday night's IPL 2022 encounter against the Rajasthan Royals (RR).

RR set a 159-run target for MI at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. Rohit Sharma's side won the match by five wickets with four deliveries to spare to open their account in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra highlighted that the five-time champions were in a slight spot of bother when Ishan Kishan got out after Sharma's early dismissal. He elaborated:

"Ishan Kishan's bat fired a little, he scored 26 runs and in typical Ishan Kishan style. Perhaps, it was a day whoever did not have form came back. There I felt Rohit Sharma will also get runs but he got out, he fell prey to Ashwin. It seemed the team will get stuck when Ishan Kishan got out."

The cricketer-turned-commentator praised Suryakumar Yadav for driving the Mumbai Indians' run chase in the company of Tilak Varma. He said:

"But Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma (played well) and Surya was brilliant. When Surya shines, he dazzles everyone, he is my favorite player. He batted extremely well against spin, was managing the game very well."

सूर्या दादा, ती POTM 🏆 आणि ती smile 💙

#OneFamily #DilKholKe #MumbaiIndians #RRvMI @surya_14kumar https://t.co/Fs7qWaa9qY

Yadav (51 off 39) and Varma (35 off 30) strung together an 81-run partnership for the third wicket to give the upper hand to the Mumbai Indians.

"What is going on with Mumbai Indians this year?" - Aakash Chopra

Tim David gave the finishing touches to the Mumbai Indians chase [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra added that MI almost surrendered the advantage when they seemed headed for an easy win. He observed:

"Ashwin did not get a wicket after that, Yuzi Chahal did not get a wicket for a long time and it seemed Mumbai will win the match easily. But what is going on with Mumbai Indians this year? When something can be done with difficulty, why do it easily?"

The 44-year-old also had a word of praise for Tim David for taking MI across the finish line. He explained:

"There I felt they got stuck again when first Surya and then Tilak gets out. Suddenly Rajasthan came back into the game. But Tim David, he is a six-hitting machine. That is why 8.25 crores were spent on him. He showed in the end that your investment was right. Unfortunately, you had less confidence in your investment."

MI benched David after the big-hitting Singaporean failed to deliver the goods in their first two matches of IPL 2022. However, the 26-year-old showcased his prowess by smoking an unbeaten 20 off nine deliveries in last night's game.