Suryakumar Yadav on Friday (May 12) once again showed why he is widely regarded as the best batter in the shortest format of the game.

The dashing right-hander put on a batting exhibition in Mumbai Indians’ (MI) comprehensive 27-run victory over Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Wankhede Stadium.

Batting at No. 3, Surya slammed his maiden IPL hundred (103 not out off 49 balls), helping MI pile up a mammoth 218/5 on the board. His whirlwind knock was studded with 11 fours and 6 sixes and he deservingly won the Player-of-the-Match award.

After the game, MI skipper Rohit Sharma heaped praise on Suryakumar Yadav, saying that the latter’s confidence rubs off on guys who are batting with him.

“The guy (Suryakumar Yadav) has got the confidence. We wanted to keep right-left combination but Surya came in and said no, he wanted to go in. That is the kind of confidence he has and that rubs off on others,” Rohit said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

“Every game he wants to start fresh and does not look back at the previous game. Sometimes you can sit back and feel proud about what you have done but that is not the case with him,” he added.

Defending the huge total, MI bowlers reduced GT to 55/5 but they lost the plot as Rashid Khan went on to play a breathtaking knock of 32-ball 79* to take the defending champions to 191/8 in 20 overs.

Akash Madhwal (3-31), Piyush Chawla (2-36), Kumar Kartikeya (2-37) and Jason Behrendorff (1-37) were among the wickets for Mumbai Indians.

“It was an interesting game especially from our point of view, happy to get the two points. That was pleasing, bat first and then come out and defend the total. We kept picking wickets and in this format you have to do that, great bowling effort from our bowlers,” Rohit stated.

With this victory, Mumbai Indians moved to third place in the 10-team standings, carrying 14 points from 12 games.