Suryakumar Yadav was on song at Abu Dhabi against Royal Challengers Bangalore as he hammered an unbeaten 79 off 43 to steer Mumbai Indians to an emphatic victory. The 30-year-old, dealing with the national snub, proved his worth with the bat and played an authoritative knock to single-handedly guide his side past the finishing line.
While chasing 165, MI's batting unit kept losing wickets at regular intervals but Suryakumar stuck to the crease until the end. Weaving his match-winning show around 10 fours and 3 sixes, he dominated the on-side and swept anything that was bowled at his legs. He was also fluid on the off-side and revealed in the post-match presentation that he had worked on his game during Covid-19 lockdown.
Talking about MI's triumph, their stand-in skipper Kieron Pollard heaped praise on the bowling unit. Pollard pointed out that bowlers did a commendable job in curbing RCB's run-flow as the innings progressed.
"Our main aim today was to get those two points and I think we really went out and got those. We've a couple of days to watch other games and to think about the NRR. But after a defeat in the last game, we wanted to come back stronger," said Pollard in the post-match conference.
"At one point, it looked like RCB would post 190-200. But we came back really well to restrict them. With wickets in hand and the position they were in, restricting them to 165 was a good job by the bowlers. Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Krunal Pandya bowled them and it was a team effort in restricting them," he added.
Pollard also hailed Suryakumar's 'class' and mentioned how the Mumbai batsman keeps taking constructive criticism to improve himself. The skipper also mentioned about Surya's dream to don the blue for India one day.
"It was very valuable. We always speak about the top three or four batsmen staying until the end if we're chasing. I think he has got that. The last couple of times, he gave it away but he keeps learning every time by taking constructive criticism pretty well. He wants to do well and today, he showed his class."
"He showed how well he can bat and deep down inside, he's got burning desire to don that blue. But again, he continues to show consistency, which all he can do as an individual," concluded the MI captain.
