‘Tula Maanla Bhau’ – Virat Kohli reacts to Suryakumar Yadav’s fiery century against Gujarat Titans

India and Royal Challengers Bangalore's flamboyant batter Virat Kohli extolled Mumbai Indians’ (MI) Suryakumar Yadav, following his blazing century against Gujarat Titans (GT). Notably, Suryakumar’s unbeaten 103 off 49 helped Mumbai clinch the two points at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Friday, May 12.

With his century, Suryakumar grabbed limelight and earned massive praises from fans and members of the cricketing fraternity. Kohli, who shares a close rapport with the MI batter, once again took to his social media handle and enthusiastically lavished praise on the latter, courtesy of his mind-blowing innings.

“Tula Maanla Bhau (hats off to you brother),” captioned Kohli on his Instagram story using the salute emoticon.

Speaking about the match, MI's opening duo of Ishan Kishan and skipper Rohit Sharma combined to put a 61-run stand for the first wicket before the latter departed. However, it was 32-year-old Suryakumar, who carved out arguably his best knock which also was his first century in the top-tier league. Notably, he cracked six sixes and 11 fours in his 49-ball 103* to propel Mumbai to 218 runs in the first innings.

Rashid Khan’s all-round show in vain

Meanwhile, Afghan spin wizard Rashid Khan returned a four-wicket haul in his four overs for 30 runs at an economy 7.50. In response to the mammoth total, Mumbai extended their dominance as they got the vital breakthroughs at regular intervals and reduced the defending champions to 55/5 in under nine overs.

David Miller tried to inject some energy into the innings as he got a 26-ball 41 before heading back to the dugout. Just when the game seemed to be slipping off, it was Rashid, who took the Wankhede by storm with his outstanding innings. 

The Afghan all-rounder slammed 10 sixes and three boundaries at a marvelous strike rate of 246.87 in his unbeaten 32-ball 79. However, with the asking run rate making a sharp uptick, the Titans eventually concluded the chase with 191 runs, thereby handing a 27-run win to Mumbai.