Jadeja had the upper hand against Suryakumar before the game, dismissing him four times in 65 balls.
It was a bold decision to send Suryakumar Yadav at No.3 last night. While that’s his best position, he had a few vulnerabilities, which CSK could have exploited. His biggest threat was Ravindra Jadeja, who was having a fruitful night.
He had just dismissed Ryan Rickelton on a drifting away delivery. While overall a good batting surface, it was a bit dry and offered some grip to spinners. MI spinners extracted an average grip of 0.26 and a turn of 2.87° in the first innings.
Further, Jadeja had the upper hand against Suryakumar Yadav before the game, dismissing him four times in 65 balls. Even overall, he can have issues with left-arm spin, especially against a quality like Jadeja. Rohit Sharma has also succumbed to spin in the past.
Jadeja’s biggest strength is his immaculate bowling. When at his best, he sticks to a particular length and keeps hitting that area to cramp batters. So, the only way to negate his threat was by going after him to disrupt his length.
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Suryakumar instantly did it; he made room to play an inside-out shot for a boundary before bringing out his renowned sweep for a maximum. He used the turn on the first shot and the angle on the next. One particular reason behind Suryakumar’s recent failures was the restrictions on his off-side game.
He was too eager to play everything across the line on the leg side, even though he has the range to access any part of the ground. But when he started with an inside-out stroke, he made his intentions clear to negate MI’s biggest threat. In the next over, he played different kinds of sweeps; one square and the other more in front.
He took a long stride ahead and went on one knee to swipe it over the backward square leg for a maximum. Later, he swept a fuller-length delivery outside off-stump towards the square leg for a four. Again, he used the angle on the first shot and his reach for the second to unsettle Jadeja.
His skilful batting meant Jadeja was taken off the attack and didn’t finish his spell. It’s not that he didn’t extract the turn or grip. Despite the dew settling in, he had an average turn of 2.62° and grip of 0.29; it’s just that Suryakumar was too good to stop, even for his kryptonite.
Those big strides forward ensured Suryakumar smothered the turn while playing across the line. Even while playing the ball too far ahead, he didn’t miss out on using the angles in his favour. Jadeja darts most deliveries inside the RHBs, using arm balls at a high pace more often; even in this game, he was the quickest spinner with an average speed of 96.91 km/h.
Jadeja troubled Rohit earlier in the game, but Suryakumar Yadav shielded him with his supreme strokeplay. He scored 24 runs off 11 deliveries, comprising two boundaries and as many maximums, at a 218.18 strike rate. Not everyone can do what Suryakumar did to Jadeja, and just like that, he took a big threat down to help Mumbai Indians (MI) register an emphatic victory.
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