Suryakumar Yadav isn’t a batsman. He is an artist masquerading as a right-handed batsman who regularly paints the cricket ground with his sumptuous strokeplay.
On Tuesday night, against the Kolkata Knight Riders, the artist descended on the M.A Chidambaram Stadium and once gave us a highlight reel, one that you can play on loop for the remainder of your life and you’ll still be itching to watch more of it.
It was that good. SKY is that good. Coming into bat following the loss of an early wicket in the form of Quinton de Kock, Suryakumar Yadav stamped his authority on the game on just the second ball he has faced by slog-sweeping Harbhajan Singh for a boundary.
The impact of that shot was such that Harbhajan, who had bowled a great first over, pulled back his length and started bowling faster.
And, Suryakumar Yadav pounced on it big time. He shimmied down the track and flicked the off-spinner past long-on for another four. Bhajji overcompensated and with his length and SKY once again obliged by creaming a sumptuous cover-drive on the up.
Yadav didn’t stop there. He welcomed Pat Cummins with a disdainful square-cut before he laid into Prasidh Krishna.
SKY once again shimmied down the track and flicked Krishna over cow-corner for a six before smoking another orgasmic cover-drive. He then backed it up with a cheeky dab past short third-man for another boundary.
Ohho thats a monster from Surya …
Look at Hardik expression , pure Gold pic.twitter.com/xAUcIKEZYV
— AlreadyGotBanned 😄 (@KirketVideoss) April 13, 2021
The 30-year-old brought up a 33-ball 50 by picking the bones out of Pat Cummins length delivery to flick it audaciously for a six that went out of the ground.
The highlight reel finally ended when SKY mistimed lofted stroke off Shakib Al Hasan to give an easy catch to Shubmab Gill at long-on.
Also Read: Watch: Hardik Pandya Stunned As Suryakumar Yadav’s Six Off Pat Cummins Lands On The Roof Of Chepauk
Here’s how Twitter reacted to Suryakumar Yadav’s dazzling knock:
Such a crucial player surya Kumar yadav has become for #mi Well played 👏
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) April 13, 2021
Sky sky what a shot that was of Cummins, it went and disappeared in the night time sky! What a talent @surya_14kumar ! #MIvKKR #IPL2021
— Kris Srikkanth (@KrisSrikkanth) April 13, 2021
WHAT A SHOT! SURYA 😳
— Saurabh Malhotra (@MalhotraSaurabh) April 13, 2021
IPL has been opened by SKY.
— Gaurav Sethi (@BoredCricket) April 13, 2021
Put that Surya shot in a loop and watch it every day.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 13, 2021
99 metres! Out of the park that, Suryakumar Yadav!#IPL2021 #KKRvMI
— Subhayan Chakraborty (@CricSubhayan) April 13, 2021
Suryakumar Yadav has just played a shot so good I may stop watching cricket. No point any more. Not getting better
— Ben Jones (@benjonescricket) April 13, 2021
Love the way Suryakumar Yadav keeps motoring off. After 2 balls where he was done by the Pace and length that Cummins bowled, he manages to whip a ball outside off to the Deep Square Leg Boundary (Mostly landed on Bells road gates :-))
— Kartik Kannan (@kartik_kannan) April 13, 2021
Surya and that whip. Some style. Dismissed from his presence. The kind of a shot that would have pleased Viv sir.
— Bharath Ramaraj (@Fancricket12) April 13, 2021
You've been hit by, you've been hit by
A smooth criminal#SuryakumarYadav 💪👍— Carpe Diem (@VenkatTwitz) April 13, 2021
Reaction for SKY to The SKY😎 #SKY #SuryakumarYadav #MIvsKKR pic.twitter.com/SOWuxwYd9y
— Yadav JBS (@JBSVision) April 13, 2021
#sky is the limit baby #SuryakumarYadav
— Abhishek Prasad (@abhishekprsd747) April 13, 2021
Only those who are very confident of own abilities can play a shot like that to get fifty. #SuryakumarYadav #KKRvMI #MIvsKKR
— Vimal Kumar/विमल कुमार (@Vimalwa) April 13, 2021
That's orgasmic from SKY! What an artist this guy is!
— Yash Mittal 🇮🇳 (@im_yash2307) April 13, 2021