Who said what: 5 best expert reactions on Suryakumar Yadav's maiden IPL century
When it seemed like you had seen every shot in Suryakumar Yadav's arsenal, he played one of the most audacious shots against Mohammad Shami to make people's jaws drop in the 57th match of IPL 2023 at the Wankhede on Friday, May 12.
When Mumbai lost their third wicket in the ninth over, with the scoreboard reading 88/3, Surya was looking to stabilize the innings and stitch a partnership with debutant Vishnu Vinod, who struggled to time the ball initially.
But then came the 13th over, where Vishnu Vinod nonchantly flat-batted a length delivery over the covers for a 90-meter six.
This would have been the shot of the night, but Suryakumar Yadav had other ideas.
He had been building his innings with orthodox shots until now and took 32 balls to complete his half century, which was quite slow by his standards.
Then, on the second delivery of the 19th over, Surya stepped beyond the leg stump to create room for himself on a fullish delivery outside off from Mohammad Shami. He then flicked his wrists at the last moment to slice it to the third man region for a 61-meter six.
It was that kind of an innings from Suryakumar Yadav, where he was sweeping over square leg, hitting sixes straight down the ground, playing inside-out shots over the cover, and slicing over third man.
And when he required at least a boundary off the last ball to complete what would have been a much-deserved ton, Suryakumar Yadav stepped across, crouched on his back knee to generate enough power, and slog-swept a wide yorker for a six over backward square leg boundary.
It was always a question of when rather than if, and the Mumbai Indians batsman once again stamped his authority in style.
Plenty of reactions have been flowing in from former and current cricketers applauding SKY's maiden IPL century. In this article, we'll take a look at five of the best.
5 expert comments on Suryakumar Yadav's century
#5. "Genius. Absolute genius" - Tom Moody
Former Australian all-rounder and SRH coach Tom Moody was all praise for Suryakumar Yadav as he described his innings as "genius". Talking to ESPNcricinfo, he heaped on SKY, calling him an impossible batsman to bowl to.
"Genius. Absolute genius. That's the only way you can describe his batting in this format of the game. The way he manipulates the fields, the way he decides where he wants the bowlers to bowl, the pressure he puts on the bowlers and the opposition captain—he is an absolute genius."
"Even on the last ball of the innings, he sensed the ploy of the bowler. He got so many answers to different deliveries, making him an impossible batsman to bowl to."
#4. "Scintillating" - Pommie Mbangwa
Pommie Mbangwa was in awe of Surya's whirlwind knock and termed it "scintillating". He said that Surya has not only been performing in recent times, but game after game he has been making runs in a manner that no one can even imagine.
Speaking at Cricbuzz Live, he said:
"Scintillating. We say he is a man of plans. Game after game, he does things like this. He took it to another level today. Each time he comes onto the field, he keeps getting better and better. Mumbai had no chance of getting anything close to what we thought was a competitive total; they needed Surya to bat till the end, and he made sure MI finished with 218."
#3. "Surya's knock is beyond superlative" - Joy Bhattacharjya
Joy Bhattacharjya explained how SKY countered the Gujarat Titans' tactic of holding Rashid Khan's over by massacaring other bowlers at the other end, which made his innings even more special.
Speaking at Cricbuzz Live, he said:
"Forget about the superlatives. Surya's knock is beyond any superlatives."
"One particular shot where he sliced it to the third man was absolutely marvelous. Hardik held back Rashid for Green and David, although it worked out, not before Surya did so much damage at the other end that it didn't matter that much."
#2. "Ghazab batting" - Virender Sehwag
Former Indian opener and captain Virender Sehwag took to Twitter to praise the acceleration of Suryakumar Yadav, who at one stage was batting at 53 off 34 balls but then shifted his tempo and plundered the next 50 runs in just 15 balls to complete his century in just 49 balls.
53 no at the end of 17th over and 103 not out by the 20th. Incredible #SuryakumarYadav . Ghazab batting. https://t.co/LMhwFIkyry
#1. "Tula Manla Bhau" - Virat Kohli
The bromance between Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav is hidden to none. Both batsmen have expressed mutual admiration for one another quite often.
The bond between Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav is special. https://t.co/GdKQCaOoNj
Last night also, Virat Kohli couldn't control himself from applauding SKY's innings and wrote "Tula Manla Bhau" (Well played brother) on Instagram.