‘My heartbeat was racing’ – Suryakumar Yadav recalls how he reacted to Virat Kohli’s sledging in IPL 2020

Mumbai Indians’ star batter, Suryakumar Yadav recalled his intense staring incident with Virat Kohl during a match between his team and RCB during the 13th season of IPL in 2020. “Virat was on a different of sleding during that match” said Yadav.

RCB scored 164 runs while batting first in the 48th game of the IPL 2020 and took two early wickets during MI’s chase in the second innings. Yadav was Mumbai’s lifeline, anchoring the game with his 79* (43) and helping his team sail past RCB, winning by five wickets.

During Sky’s innings, he hit the ball towards Virat who in turn gave a long and intense stare while walking up to him. Kohli’s attempt to antagonise him was futile, as the batter responded with a superb knock.

Suryakumar Yadav didn’t want to respond on Virat Kohli’s sledging

Yadav discussed the incident on Gaurav Kapur’s YouTube show Breakfast with Champions, saying: “That’s his style. His energy level on the ground is always different. And that game was extremely important for both teams so Virat’s sledging was on another level in that match. I was focused on myself, like ‘boss, you cannot lose focus and have to win the match at any cost’. The ball went to him and he made that action from there and it was very instinctive.”

The obvious result because of Surya’s glorious innings lead Mumbai Indians to victory. “I remember I was chewing gum and inside my heartbeat is racing knowing that he is walking at me. He isn’t saying anything, I wasn’t saying anything. I was saying to myself ‘no matter what happens, do not say a word. It’s a matter of 10 seconds. After this a new over will begin. This won’t last long’. So the situation passed. I then saw him right after the match,” Suryakumar added.

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Though it looked like the stare did not bother him, but the MI batter told that he was quite scared by it. He revealed that staying calm and holding up to the situation and not reacting to Virat’s actions was which helped him sail MI towards the win. Surya completed the season with 480 runs in his bag as MI lifted the trophy.

In contrast to this season, the Mumbai Indians had a very exhilarating 2020 season, as Rohit Sharma led the team to their fifth IPL title by defeating the Delhi Capitals in the final in Dubai, UAE.