'Earlier, it used to be 'Sachin, Sachin' - Harbhajan Singh extols Mumbai's new superstar for his imperious form

Suryakumar Yadav continued his imperious form in IPL 2023 as he brought up his maiden IPL hundred against Gujarat Titans during Match 57 on Saturday, May 12 at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.

The MI batter played a sensational knock of 103* off 49 balls smashing 11 fours and six sixes in his innings to help Mumbai post a massive score of 218/5 in the first innings. In reply, GT could only manage to reach 191/8 in the second innings as MI won the match by 27 runs.

During his breathtaking knock, Suryakumar left the entire cricketing fraternity awestruck with his strokeplay as he smacked boundaries all around the ground. Former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh also showered praise on the star batter and credited him for single-handedly propelling Mumbai ahead in the tournament.

“I can only bow down to him. Keep going. He's almost single-handedly steering MI's campaign. It's not as if others aren't performing, but Suryakumar is operating at a different level. He's unbelievable and unstoppable. I've lost out of words to praise him. Salute to him,” Harbhajan said on his official YouTube channel.

The former spinner further called him the biggest name in Mumbai Indians at the moment and compared him with the likes of legendary Sachin Tendulkar and Lasith Malinga for making the crowd go berserk with his shots.

“I hope he remains fit and keep winning matches for MI. Because the chant of 'Surya, Surya' reverberates the whole ground the moment he comes to bat. Earlier, it used to be 'Sachin, Sachin', and then 'Malinga, Malinga'. Now, it's Suryakumar Yadav. There's no bigger name than Suryakumar in Mumbai Indians right now. He's winning everyone's hearts with his performances,” he added.

Suryakumar climbs to the third spot in the IPL 2023 Orange Cap list

Courtesy of his sensational innings, SKY, as he’s lovingly called by his fans, has climbed to the third spot in the list of the leading run scorers of the ongoing season with 479 runs to his name from 12 innings at an average of 43.54 and a strike rate of 190.83 scoring one hundred and four fifties.

The swashbuckling batter scored just 66 runs in the first five innings of the tournament which included scores of 0 and 1 in two innings. However, he made a terrific comeback scoring a brilliant 57 off 26 balls against Punjab Kings and has carried his form since then.

With just two matches remaining in the league stage for MI, the Rohit Sharma-led side will hope that he continues his form.