'His sledging was on another level' - Suryakumar Yadav recalls staring incident with Virat Kohli in IPL 2020

Mumbai Indians’ (MI) prolific batter Suryakumar Yadav has opened up about his intense stare with Virat Kohli during his team’s match against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) during the 13th edition of the IPL. Yadav revealed that Virat was on some other level of sledging during that game.

In the 48th game of the IPL 2020, RCB had posted 164 runs while batting first and had managed to pick two early wickets during MI’s chase in the second innings. Yadav was the saviour for Mumbai as he anchored the game with his 79* (43) and helped his team sail past RCB, winning the game by five wickets.

During Surya’s innings, he had hit the ball towards Virat, who picked it up and gave him a long intense stare walking up to him. Kohli’s attempt to anguish him failed as the batter responded with his terrific knock. Talking about the incident on Gaurav Kapur’s YouTube show Breakfast with Champions, Yadav said:

“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.”

Mumbai won that game against Bangalore due to Suryakumar’s composure

Though it seemed like Virat’s walk towards him and the stare did not bother him, the Mumbai Indians batter said that he was somewhere daunted by it. He revealed how he calmed himself down during the game and understood the importance of the circumstances by not reacting to Virat’s actions.

“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.

The 2020 season, unlike this season, was very happening for Mumbai Indians as Rohit Sharma led the team to their fifth IPL trophy by defeating the Delhi Capitals in the final in Dubai, UAE.