IPL 2023: The bad form hasn’t really made any difference – Virender Sehwag on Suryakumar Yadav’s batting

Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag has showered praise on Suryakumar Yadav, who has returned to his best in the ongoing Indian Premier League 2023 after going through a rough patch in the initial stage of the tournament.

SKY scored a blistering knock of 66 runs off just 31 balls against Punjab Kings at the IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali on Wednesday night to help his team chase down the huge target of 215 runs.

SKY was able to hit the ground running after coming out to bat at the end of the powerplay overs, in which MI scored 54-2. The Mumbai batter smoked eight fours and two sixes in his blistering knock as he batted at the top of his game.

SKY also added an imperative alliance of 116 runs with Ishan Kishan, who also scored a match-winning knock of 75 runs, for which he was awarded Player of the match.

Speaking on Cricbuzz, Virender Sehwag said, “Suryakumar Yadav is playing like he has always done. The bad form hasn’t really made any difference. Players tend to get a bit cautious when out of form, and their strike rate also goes down a bit. But when it comes to Suryakumar, his strike rate has always been very impressive whenever he has scored runs.”

Meanwhile, Kishan also played a key role in Mumbai’s convincing win but Sehwag reckons the left-hander shouldn’t have thrown his wicket away and should have closed out the game.

“Ishan Kishan got out after scoring 75 runs. He could have avoided that shot or avoided the fielder by playing it along the ground. Had he scored a century and batted till the end, people would have once again said that Ishan Kishan would win the game for you when he scores. He didn’t finish the match. When you score runs, you should look to finish the game.”

On the other hand, Tilak Varma (26 off 10) and Tim David (19 off 10) added the finishing touches to the innings after the dismissals of Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan.

Sehwag added MI did the right thing by saving their in-form batters to finish off the run-chase of 215 runs. Both Varma and David have done a good job for MI in the ongoing season.

“Mumbai did the right thing by saving their in-form batters for the end. Tim David was sent to bat ahead of Tilak Varma. But Tilak Varma was there to ensure that they would still win the game even if they lost any wickets. This is the advantage you have if there is enough depth in the batting lineup.”

Mumbai Indians will next face Chennai Super Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Saturday.