Mumbai Indians batter Suryakumar Yadav performs a shot in the course of the IPL 2023 cricket match between Gujarat Titans and Mumbai Indians, at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, on May 12, 2023.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Suryakumar Yadav’s maiden IPL century on Friday floored defending champions Gujarat Titans, whose assistant coach and former India spinner Ashish Kapoor acknowledged that batters like him put bowlers beneath lots of stress.
The world no. 1 T20 batter, Suryakumar smacked 11 fours and six sixes to energy Mumbai Indians to a frightening 218 for 5.
GT had been tottering at 103 for eight earlier than Rashid Khan’s (79 not out off 32) onslaught dragged them to 191/8.
MI received again to the third place in the factors desk with a 27-run win, courtesy Suryakumar’s knock.
However, Kapoor felt Suryakumar was ‘sensible’ to deal with GT bowlers, particularly Noor Ahmad.
“(It was) an absolutely brilliant knock. He played smartly, we were expecting Noor might get him out, because the way he played him — got out to him in the previous game. Even today he (Surya) did not take chances against him,” Kapoor mentioned.
“As long as Noor bowled he kept picking singles and twos and actually Vishnu Vinod took pressure off him when he got runs in the middle quicker than him.
“But as soon as he was set, you all know what Surya can do. When a man is in that sort of type, it is extremely tough for the bowlers. These sorts of batsmen put the bowlers beneath lots of stress, you do not know what number of sixes they’ll hit each over, overlook the innings,” Kapoor said.
MI bowler Akash Madhwal, who chipped in with three wickets, also praised senior pro Suryakumar for his outstanding knock.
“It may be very tough to bowl to Surya bhai. I’ve bowled to lots of batters however he performs terribly properly,” Madhwal said when asked about his experience of bowling to Suryakumar in the nets.
“Whatever he trains for in the nets, he is ready to execute in the sport. It may be very tough to bowl at him. I’ve additionally performed a observe match in opposition to him, watching him bat is particular. I’ve not seen a participant like him,” he said.
Kapoor, meanwhile, also praised Rashid, who took four wickets for 30 runs and struck 10 sixes and three fours to make an unbeaten 79.
“He is a top-class participant, there isn’t any doubt about it. People have a look at him as a leg-spinner however he has confirmed that he’s a high all-rounder a minimum of in this format. Till proper now, he didn’t must bat. Last 12 months, he received lots of batting and gained lots of matches for us. This 12 months, that is the primary time he received an honest innings (in phrases of) the place he received lots of balls to bat,” Kapoor said.
“He nearly pulled (it) off for us. Things occur, possibly with one or two good overs upfront, possibly we’d have gotten nearer,” he added.
Talking about Rashid’s bowling plans, Kapoor explained that reading the pitch before any match is crucial for the Afghan player.
“He is a distinct spinner altogether, (like) how we had (Anil) Kumble. Rashid relies upon totally on his velocity and size, which is sort of totally different.
“With his speed, he is able to skid the ball onto the bat but he knows on which wickets to bowl a little bit slower so that he can extract some turn. His main weapon is the googly, he keeps seeing the wickets before the match and understands what lengths to bowl,” Kapoor mentioned.
