The India and Gujarat Titans pacer recalled the game which he and his team looked likely to lose due to Suryakumar Yadav’s pyrotechnics.
Suryakumar Yadav has given many a batter sleepless nights. The world’s No. 2 ranked batter may have been a late bloomer but boy what a time he is having. Easily one of the most destructive batter in world T20 cricket, SKY has scored runs for India and for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League. In fact, it were his exploits with the five-time IPL champions that led to his India call-up in 2021. And as luck would have it, a year later, SKY reached the pinnacle of world’s T20I batting.
Suryakumar Yadav was a legit threat for Gujarat Titans that evening.(AFP)
Surya began to flourish from IPL 2018 with over 500 runs. As MI won their fourth title in 2019 and another one in 2020, SKY was once again a star scoring 424 runs and has not stopped since. Surya has been part of several pulsating contests, one of which came last year when Gujarat Titans hosted Mumbai Indians at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium. Shubman Gill had hammered 120 off 60 balls to take GT’s total to 233, and MI, needing a monster chase, relied on SKY. From 21/2, Surya held fort and smashed a quickfire fifty. At that moment, GT, and especially their bowler Mohit Sharma thought the game was gone. That is until captain Hardik Pandya handed the ball to Mohit after the 10th over.
“Before my spell, Surya and Tilak were batting really well. I used to bowl after 10 overs only that season. Before that I think 2 or 3 wickets were down they were batting in a way that it looked like they will chase it down with two overs to spare. They were in a different zone altogether. Before that match, I remember we had a team meeting to discuss the plans for Surya. You cannot really plan against Surya. He will destroy all your plans in one over. Generally, in our meeting, we were discussing how to go about it. I told them that we cannot do much. We should let him think that we are planning something against him. So go out there and do your job. Even if he hits you for 6 sixes in an over, it’s alright. Don’t worry about it. He was in that kind of form,” Mohit said on the ‘2 Sloggers’ podcast.
“He was and still is the No. 1 T20 batsman. So I had a clear plan in my mind. I bowled the first ball, which was dispatched for a six. I didn’t even want to bowl that delivery. He hit me for a 90 meter six over mid-wicket. When I was walking back, I told myself that I have taken a step back. I had to bowl those remaining 6 deliveries like you bowl in test matches. I had to pitch the ball right up there. Even if he hits 6 sixes, it’s alright. I cannot control if he is set or out. I knew that very clearly. And I had told Ashish bhai before the match that I might end up conceding 6 sixes in an over. It’s alright, I am not going to do anything. Let’s see what Surya does.”
How did the carnage stop
If Suryakumar was in scorching form, as was Mohit. As the Titans reached the final, with 27 scalps, he was the second-highest wicket-taker of the tournament behind teammate Mohammed Shami’s tally of 28. The kind of touch he was in, if anyone could stop Suryakumar, it was Mohit. He triggered one of MI’s worst and infamous batting collapses of all time, en route to finishing with incredible figures of 5/10 from 2.2 overs.
“The second delivery, Surya tried to play a paddle scoop. The length was perfect and it hit the top of the bat. I remember after that delivery, when we were celebrating, I told everybody that we were lucky. I didn’t say that our plan worked. I said that we were lucky. Surya getting out was very crucial. After his wicket… Tilak… I don’t even remember what happened. Even then everybody got out. But SKY was in his elements that day. He was smashing everybody. He scored 61,” Mohit mentioned.
