I was happy that he sledged me: Suryakumar on Kohli sledging him in IPL 2020 match

Cricket Desk: Suryakumar Yadav, who made his debut for Team India earlier this year, went down memory lane to the incident when national skipper Virat Kohli sledged him during the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). In the 48th game of the tournament at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, Yadav churned out his very best when the Mumbai-based team was chasing 165.

Yadav stayed unbeaten on a 43-ball 79 with 10 fours and three sixes and helped MI track down the target with five balls to spare. The right-hander also got the Player of the Match award for his match-winning knock. During his inning, Kohli tried to get under his skin with sledging.

He goes hard at any batsman batting against him: Suryakumar Yadav

Recalling the moment, Yadav stated that he was happy that Virat tried to ruffle his feathers. He understood that Kohli was trying to divert his concentration going by the importance of his wicket in the critical match situation.

“It’s not just me, he goes hard at any batsman batting against him. I was happy that he sledged me. It means even Kohli knew that if I bat on, we will win the match and if they got my wicket, then maybe they could slow us down and create a chance to win,” Yadav was quoted as saying in a live chat on Mumbai Indians’ Instagram handle.

“I am a cool and calm customer on the pitch, so I don’t get into these rivalries. But there was that moment in Abu Dhabi, so I guess that can go down as one,” he added.

Yadav came to bat after Mohammed Siraj got rid of opener Quinton de Kock. From thereon, he took charge, scoring nearly half of the runs in the chase. Ishan Kishan, Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya and de Kock scored in the 10s and 20s to lend Yadav support.

Overall, Suryakumar had a decent outing in IPL 2020. Batting at number three, he managed 480 runs from 16 matches at an average and strike rate of 40 and 145.01 respective. Though he bagged two ducks, he made up for it with four half-centuries.