Suryakumar Yadav, exhibited an impressive display of power-hitting, sending the Gujarat Titans' bowlers all over the park to secure his first-ever Indian Premier League century. Known for his explosive hitting, Suryakumar had waited for 4053 days before finally achieving the milestone. In the final delivery of the innings, he reached the century in only 49 deliveries.
Outrageous shot
Throughout his innings, Suryakumar exhibited an array of shots, but one shot, in particular, left everyone stunned. During the penultimate over of the innings against Mohammed Shami, he hit a six that even Sachin Tendulkar, one of the greatest batters in cricket history, tried to imitate while sitting near the dugout. Shami pitched the delivery wide outside off, and Suryakumar intentionally sliced the ball over short third for a maximum. Initially, it seemed as if he was aiming for a grounded hit, but Suryakumar flicked his wrist at the end to send the ball soaring over the boundary line for a six.
Never seen a shot like that
Former Australian cricketer Tom Moody was awestruck by the shot and claimed that he had never seen any batter attempt something of the sort in his entire life. When Amol Mazumdar, another expert, described Suryakumar as impossible to bowl to, referring to the shot, Moody expressed amazement at the batter's courage to attempt the hit.
“That particular ball, I don't think I've ever seen a six hit over third man with a vertical bat. I've seen hit with a horizontal bat, a cut shot going over third man. I've never seen a six hit with a vertical bat off the middle of the bat, I've even seen a thick-edge fly. Never seen it before in my life!” Moody told ESPNCricinfo.
“I've seen nearly 10 million balls bowled in my lifetime in all forms of the game, and I've never seen that before. It was totally mint. It was in his head, and no one else's head, that he was capable of doing that,” he further said.
Moody wasn't the only one who was in awe of the shot. Ian Bishop, who is currently on commentary duties in the IPL, called the shot ridiculous. “This for me will forever be know as “The Shot”. That’s just ridiculous from SKY,” he wrote.
During the presentation ceremony, Rohit Sharma applauded Suryakumar Yadav's exceptional performance with the bat. "This guy is filled with confidence. We planned for a right-left batting combination, but SKY requested to go in," Rohit stated.
"That is the kind of confidence he has and that rubs off on others. Every game he wants to start fresh and does not look back at the previous game. Sometimes you can sit back and feel proud but that is not the case with him," he added.
