India head coach Ravi Shastri on Wednesday commended Mumbai Indians' Suryakumar Yadav for his 43-ball 79 against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and asked the batsman to "stay strong and patient".
Yadav led MI to an important victory against RCB and won the Man of the Match award. The innings came shortly after he missed out on the Indian squad selected for the upcoming tour of Australia.
"Surya namaskar. Stay strong and patient @surya_14kumar #MIvsRCB," Shastri tweeted.
The selectors' decision to not pick Yadav in the Indian squads for the ODIs or T20Is has been met with significant criticism. Former India captain and ex-chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar and veteran spinner Harbhajan Singh were among those who criticised the selectors for not including the Mumbai batsman.
After Wednesday’s knock, Yadav became Mumbai’s second-highest scorer this season with 362 runs in 11 innings. His 79 off 43 balls also equalled his highest score in the tournament. He had earlier this season remained unbeaten on 79, off 47 deliveries, against Rajasthan Royals at the same venue on 6 October.
In fact, Yadav is also the leading scorer in Abu Dhabi during this IPL, having scored 335 runs at an average of 55.83 in eight matches at the venue. In the two other venues, Dubai and Sharjah, where he has played two games each, Yadav has just 27 runs from four matches.
After the win, the 30-year-old said he has been tasked to take the game deep, which he did in all the three half-century knocks he has hit.
"The team management and Rohit told me before the start of the tournament that you have played enough to take the game deep. I am glad I have been able to do it," said Yadav after his innings.
Following his match-winning knock on Wednesday night in Abu Dhabi, Yadav’s A-list supporters all took to Twitter to make a case for him once again.
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