Suryakumar Yadav and Virat Kohli
Suryakumar Yadav's match-winning knock against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) was arguably among the best of the recently-concluded IPL 2020. Surya, a consistent performer for the Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai outfit, proved why he deserved a spot in India's squad for the Australia tour by slamming 79* off 43 at Abu Dhabi.
Chasing a competitive total of 164, Suryakumar's batting exploits single-handedly steered Mumbai Indians (MI) to a five-wicket victory. The sight of Surya finishing the game for his side and stating -- 'I'm here to say' was a picture-perfect moment of the tournament, especially when his name was all over the internet post India snub.
One of the highlights of Surya's match-winning innings was his staredown with RCB skipper Virat Kohli. During the run-chase, Kohli attempted to sledge Surya by staring at him without uttering a word.
Suryakumar, however, shrugged it off and walked away from Kohli. The clip was instantly trending all over social media and many fans linked the moment with the rivalry between the two. Reacting to the incident, Suryakumar has revealed that it was all very 'instinctive'. The MI batsman further said that they both had a laugh about it after the match.
"It was all very instinctive. Virat Kohli is a huge cricketing figure and he plays the game very aggressively. It was an important game for both teams and whatever happened, it did during the game," Suryakumar told Hindustan Times.
"After the game, we laughed about it and he congratulated me on my batting. Virat’s brand of cricket is top class and the way he dominates world cricket is just amazing. I too look up to him. In the end, it was great to win the game," he added.
Surya further also heaped praise on MI skipper Rohit Sharma, who became the only skipper to lift five IPL titles. After donning the captaincy role in 2013, Rohit has steered the Mumbai franchise to five IPL titles -- the most by any skipper.
"Rohit 'bhai' is a fantastic captain who puts the team first before his own self. He has led MI to five titles due to his fine captaincy and top-class batting. He took over as a captain in 2013 and left his opening slot for me. It was incredible of him to do so. I enjoy so much when I am batting alongside him," said Surya.
