IPL 2023: Know why Suryakumar Yadav's century against Gujarat Titans is special?

Mumbai, May 13: Ace Mumbai Indians (MI) batter Suryakumar Yadav displayed a spectacular performance with another T20 century in the Indian Premier League (IPL) match against Gujarat Titans (GT) on Friday.

 

This century is a special one as a Mumbai Indians (MI) player for Suryakumar and the team as a whole.

 

 

It is the first IPL century by an MI player since IPL 2014. The previous century by an MI player in IPL was by West Indies' Lendl Simmons against Punjab Kings (formerly Kings XI Punjab) back in May 2014.

 

It is also the first time since 2011 that an MI player has hit a century at the franchise's home stadium of Wankhede Stadium. Last time this feat happened was when legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar smashed a 66-ball hundred against now-defunct Kochi Tuskers Kerala back in April 2011.

 

For Suryakumar Yadav as an individual, he has scored 479 runs at an average of 43.54 and a strike rate of over 190.83 in 12 matches. He has scored a century and four half-centuries in IPL 2023, with the best score of 103*.

 

Being put to bat first by GT, MI put up 218/5 on the board in their 20 overs. Openers Ishan Kishan (31 off 20 balls) and skipper Rohit Sharma (29 off 18 balls) provided a quick start with a quick 61-run opening stand.

 

For the 32-year-old, it was also special as he was struggling in the initial phase of IPL. Yadav's nightmare had continued from his Australia ODI series, where he got out for three back-to-back golden ducks, for the first time of his career.

 

Making his side win, MI is in the third position in the points table with seven wins and five losses. They have a total of 12 points.