After Rohit Sharma departed rather meekly for a low scoring 4 that saw the former Mumbai Indians captain playing no more than five odd deliveries, the pendulum had already swung toward the opponents and the Wankhede wasn’t a happy place for home fans on May 6, 2024.
Being 31 for the loss of 2 wickets even as the asking score is 174 can be somewhere troubling despite the team in pursuit not chasing a gargantuan score, which has hitherto been the dominant trend in IPL 2024.
But despite losing Rohit Sharma, an unquestionable titan of the IPL, the game was far from over.
That man called Suryakumar Yadav had only just arrived and post settling his nerve for a little more than an over and a half, the gum chewing enigma of the Mumbai Indians decided to take the aerial route.
Though, in reality, the gum wasn’t the only thing he munched; he chewed on the minds of all of Pat Cummins’s bowlers, including the celebrated Sunrisers Hyderabad captain himself.
Always focused, a touch reticent as if playing to the tunes of his own mind and hardly ever bothered by the occurrences on the pitch, Suryakumar Yadav went about his usual business transforming a nervous run chase into one stoked by high tempo.
After a few of his strokes yielded 67- meter long sixes down the on side, the second much finer than the first hit, he’d begin exploring the gaps on either side of the Wankhede.
The gentle semi-walking down the crease to put perfect placement into picture was perhaps witnessing a rhythmic Ghazal albeit on a Spanish guitar; the sitar, not so much.
Because when Suryakumar Yadav gets going, even slow orchestral sounds suited more to a loungy affair seem like some disco-infused music ideal for a live wire of a concert, which is what he was delivering to tens of thousands who had begun to bite off their nails seeing another top order MI failure.
Scoring his maiden century of the ongoing edition of the IPL may have perhaps been an after effect of being utterly engrossed in a match saving effort.
Knowing perhaps well that Mumbai’s chances of making it to the play offs are now about as certain as bell bottoms and polka dots becoming a global rage once again, Suryakumar Yadav turned the enforcer and the one ultimately encountered, was the behemoth of the ongoing IPL: the Sunrisers.
It’s one thing to whip a weakling of the tournament but it’s something rather incredible when you horse whip quite possibly the second or third best side of the tournament particularly when you’re yourself no better then a bottom dweller.
But since when have such scenarios impacted Suryakumar Yadav?
The last of the bashers of the white ball who combines power and perfection with enormous ease stayed unruffled until the end, leaving very little on the already over burdened shoulders of his mate Tilak Varma; easily MI’s finest batter of 2024.
Playing the architect of a brilliant run chase as also the wrecker in chief, Sky sent the ball into the skies, seldom changing his customary mode of operation, irrespective of whom he faced: whether Bhuvi or Cummins, Samad or anyone else.
Not only did he score his first century of this edition of the famed Indian Premier League, he remained at the crease until the end, thereby removing the growing notion that Surya throws it away at the very momentary lapse of concentration.
This, however, serves a case in point. While we know that he’s batting at his destructive best in a very John Wick-like mode, it offers unprecedented confidence to a team that thus far has been lacking much of it.
But beyond the captivating buck spinning hoopla of the IPL, it reassures the Indian national cricket team soon to contest in the World Cup that their middle order is sorted with Sky peaking at the right time.
All that’s needed now is for Jadeja and Dube to launch themselves majorly over the opponents so as thwart their plans and to ensure the team is not over reliant on the top order.
What do you reckon?