Former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh showered praise on Suryakumar Yadav after Mumbai Indians registered a comprehensive 59-run win against Delhi Capitals at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Wednesday to book their playoff place.
On a difficult pitch, SKY scored a fine knock of 73 runs off just 43 balls. The right-hander smashed seven fours and four sixes to help MI post a par score of 180 runs on the board.
Yadav added 57 runs off the last 21 balls with Naman Dhir, who smashed a quickfire cameo of 8-ball 24.
“A good player’s sign is that he takes the game deep, and then he has so much belief in himself that if he stays till the end, which he would, he would change the complexion of the game, and we have seen Suryakumar Yadav doing that not once, but thousands of times,” Harbhajan Singh said on Star Sports.
The Turbanator added SKY played according to the match situation, as the pitch was difficult to bat on.
“He understood the demands of the conditions and took the game deep, and when he got a chance, he opened his arms in such a way that he took the game far away from the opposition. I feel this was the best knock of the entire season. The other innings might have come much quicker, but the bowlers were in the game in today’s conditions,” the former India spinner added.
The former Mumbai Indians off-spinner said the bowlers were on top when Suryakumar Yadav went out to bat, but he played a mature knock.
“An extremely satisfying innings. This wasn’t an inning where he scored runs on a flat pitch. The bowlers were dominant when he went to bat. He took his time there and understood how to bat on this pitch. He drove the game through singles and doubles, and demolished them in the last three overs,” he said.
Mumbai Indians will play their last league stage match against Punjab Kings at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur, on Monday.
