Harbhajan Singh, a former off-spinner for India, was full of admiration for Suryakumar Yadav, who led the Mumbai Indians (MI) to the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 playoffs on Wednesday, May 21, at the Wankhede Stadium, with a magnificent innings against the Delhi Capitals (DC).
After being asked to bowl first, MI lost three wickets in the opening seven overs. The balls turned when the DC spinners applied pressure to what appeared to be a slow surface. Even while players like Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma threw away their wickets in pursuit of quick runs, Suryakumar had to wait patiently at the crease.
Suryakumar and Naman Dhir destroyed Dushmantha Chameera and Mukesh Kumar throughout the park in the final two overs, scoring 48 runs. The Indian T20 captain hit seven fours and four sixes while finishing undefeated at 73 off 43. MI won the game by 59 runs and advanced to the playoffs after reaching 180/5 in their 20 overs.
Harbhajan Singh praised Suryakumar for saving his team, as he has done on multiple occasions in the past, while evaluating the game.
The former cricket player who is now a broadcaster emphasised Suryakumar’s capacity to go deep into a match, particularly when the conditions are not ideal for making fluid strokes.
“A good player’s sign is that he takes the game deep, and then he has so much belief in himself that if he stays till the end, which he would, he would change the complexion of the game, and we have seen Suryakumar Yadav doing that not once, but thousands of times,” Harbhajan Singh stated on Star Sports.
When he had the opportunity, he spread his arms wide enough to take the game far away from the opposition since he was aware of the conditions and took the game seriously. This knock, in my opinion, was the best of the season. The bowlers were in the game in the conditions of today, even though the other innings might have gone by considerably more quickly,” he continued.
India
