Suryakumar Yadav, the right-handed attacking batsman, has had a dream start in the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The Mumbai Indians (MI) star played steady innings of 31 off 23 deliveries against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), but he was at his best against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Tuesday evening. SKY, as he is fondly referred to by his teammates, walked out to the crease after the early dismissal of Quinton de Kock and smashed a brilliant 56 off just 36 balls with seven boundaries and two maximums. One of those two sixes hit off Australia's lethal fast bowler, Pat Cummins, which left everyone in awe.
Following the impressive knock, Mumbai Indians posted a clip of Yadav on Twitter and wrote, "Our SKY...Touching the sky...Surya Kumar Yadav talks about that 99 metres six and an epic win."
In the post-match interaction, Yadav said his focus was on timing the ball and he heard that it went 99 metres, the longest he has ever hit a cricket ball in the IPL. Gesturing towards the MI logo, Yadav added, "It's good that it came for this team, in a perfect situation and we won the game, too."
His impressive shot execution stunned many including his teammate, all-rounder Hardik Pandya who stood up from his chair and applauded.
"Sky is the limit," wrote a Twitter user.
Reacting to this tweet, another user said, "SKY has no limit."
Following the win, Yadav tweeted a few photographs, captioned, "Great team effort to bounce back and defend the score. Happy to contribute to the team's first win!"
Reacting to this, a fan wrote, "Surya Bhai, your six against Cummins was jaw-dropping."
Mumbai Indians will next face David Warner-led SunRisers Hyderabad on April 17.