Mumbai Indians (MI) batter Suryakumar Yadav on Tuesday (May 9) made a mockery of Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) bowling attack in Match 54 of IPL 2023 at the Wankhede Stadium.

Batting at No. 3, the dashing right-hander displayed his wide array of strokes to smash 83 off 35 balls, helping MI overhaul the stiff target of 200 with six wickets in hand and 21 deliveries to spare.

Suryakumar’s knock was studded with 7 fours and 6 sixes and he deservingly won the Player-of-the-Match award.

Impressed with his whirlwind innings, batting legend Sunil Gavaskar said he felt Surya was playing “gully cricket” and “toying” with the hapless RCB bowlers.

“SKY was toying with the bowlers. He gives you a feeling of gully cricket when he’s batting like that. He’s just gotten better with practice and hard work,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports’ Cricket Live.

“His bottom hand is so powerful that he uses it to perfection. Against RCB, he started with hitting towards long-on and long-off and later agricultured shots all around the park.”

During his knock, Suryakumar Yadav was involved in a match-winning stand of 140 runs with Nehal Wadhera, who slammed 52* off 34 balls.

According to Gavaskar, Surya’s hitting rubbed off on youngster Nehal Wadhera, who scored his second half-century of the IPL 2023 season.

“When you are batting with SKY your confidence is boosted, but the best thing about Nehal Wadhera’s innings was that he wasn’t looking to play shots like SKY. The best thing about him is that his balance was superb,” said Gavaskar.

With this victory, Mumbai Indians moved to the third spot in the 10-team standings, carrying 12 points from 11 matches.

The Rohit Sharma-led side will next face defending champions Gujarat Titans on Friday (May 12) at the Wankhede Stadium.