IPL 2023: 103 at Wankhede my best T20 innings, says Suryakumar Yadav after MI outclass GT

As a spectator, it’s going to be incredibly hard to pick one from Suryakumar Yadav’s 5 T20 hundreds.

But the WoBrld No. 1 T20I batter chose his latest one — the 103 not out against Gujarat Titans for Mumbai Indians in an IPL 2023 match on May 12 as his best. Suryakumar brought up his maiden IPL hundred in his 135th match in the tournament and it was a special one as he flaunted his 360-degree skills, leaving some of the best awestruck.

Suryakumar Yadav hit 6 sixes and 10 boundaries for his 49-ball 103 not out as he tore into the Gujarat Titans bowling unit. He was 23 off 18 balls after a flying start for Mumbai Indians from captain Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan but the 32-year-old switched gears and raced to his 100, hitting the 6th joint-fastest hundred by an Indian in the IPL.

Suryakumar Yadav’s maiden IPL hundred gave Mumbai Indians a winning total of 218 as a sensational all-round effort from Rashid Khan (4 for 31 and 32-ball 79 not out) was not enough for the Gujarat Titans, who fell short by 27 runs.

Suryakumar Yadav hit 4 T20I hundreds before his maiden IPL hundred, establishing once again why he is one of the highly-rated T20 batters going around.

“Can say that (my best T20 innings), Suiryakumar Yadav said when asked about his Wankhede masterclass on Friday.

“Whenever I get runs I think the team should win,” he added.

HOW MI ACED BATTING FIRST
3 of Mumbai Indians’ 5 losses have come in IPL 2023 when they batted first and Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya put them in a spot by asking them to bat on Friday.

The memories of a poor show with the bat against Chennai Super Kings earlier in May would have come for MI but their batters came out all guns firing.

After Rohit and Ishan set the tempo with a blitzy powerplay, Suryakumar Yadav and debutant Vishnu Vinod took over.

Suryakumar Yadav said MI decided to bat in the first innings like how they would approach a chase and it helped them set a 200-plus total.

“Most importantly we batted first today and said that we would keep the same tempo when you are chasing 200-220. There was a lot of dew on the ground, it was there from the 7-8th over and I knew what shots to play,” he added.

Both Mumbai and Suryakumar Yadav have perfectly overcome a slow start to the season to be in the top 3. MI jumped from No. 4 to No. 3 with 14 points in as many matches to boost their playoffs hopes.

On the other hand, with 479 runs in 12 matches, Suryakumar Yadav is in the race for the Orange Cap.