IPL 2025: Suryakumar Yadav unfurled a wondrous flick-scoop against KKR at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday. (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)Suryakumar Yadav has not been in the best of nicks heading into the IPL 2025 season. The India T20I captain was silenced for the majority of the five-match series that his side won 4-1 over England in January. Glimpses of SKY specials had, however, touched down in Ahmedabad a couple of days ago but the Mumbai maverick could not prevent a crushing defeat against the Gujarat Titans. Monday brought a pretty casual opportunity in the middle for Suryakumar after the bowlers had nearly killed the game, bundling Kolkata Knight Riders for a paltry 116.
With only 26 required from 55 balls, Suryakumar decided to have a waltz and entertain the Wankhede crowd in MI’s first outing at home this edition with a dazzling 27* in only 9 deliveries.
Of only his second delivery, SKY opened his account with trademark daredevilry as he picked on Andre Russell’s wide back-of-a-length delivery outside the off-stump. Gently shuffling across, Suryakumar unfurled a stroke that nearly packed three shots into a fine – a flick, a part-scoop and an effective swipe – over the deep fine-leg boundary for six.
𝗦𝘂𝗿𝘆𝗮𝗸𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗿 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 😎
Trademark way to get off the mark ✅@mipaltan cruising in the chase 🛳️
Updates ▶ https://t.co/iEwchzEpDk#TATAIPL | #MIvKKR | @surya_14kumar pic.twitter.com/Ag46xegPOW
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 31, 2025
Suryakumar’s teammate Ryan Rickelton who finished unbeaten on 62 off 41 after his first IPL fifty hailed the India T20I captain’s genius.
“I just said to Quinny (de Kock) that SKY (Surya) is a joke, stuff that I can’t do, stuff that I can’t dream of. He has played that shot many a time, I’m not going to try it but I’m glad that he is in our team,” Rickelton told post-match.
Suryakumar stuffed in three fours and another six en-route MI’s seamless eight-wicket win while also entering an elite club of Indian T20 batters. SKY became only the fifth Indian to cross 8000 T20 runs, joining Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Suresh Raina while offering a refreshing innings to a packed Mumbai crowd.
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