Suryakumar Yadav - Piercing the field with geometric precision

Suryakumar Yadav can pretty much bend a T20 game to his will, a great exhibition of that coming at the Wankhede on Friday when his first IPL century propelled Mumbai Indians to an easy win over champions Gujarat Titans.

Yadav's unbeaten 103 off 49 balls against arguably IPL's strongest bowling attack was another display of how high he can fly in the shortest format. While the strike rate of 210.20 and his 360-degree shot-making was jaw-dropping, he also got to his century in just 35 scoring shots. Of the 14 dot balls he faced, one fetched a leg bye while four were played out in a row – three in the 16th over bowled by Mohit Sharma.

Yadav also showed he is not always about making bowlers looking silly with shots behind the wicket, or either side of the keeper. The versatility was on display, showing that he can press on with shots in front of the wicket as well. Off his 11 fours, only four were behind square. And of the six sixes, four were sumptuous shots in front of the stumps.

However, it was one of the two sixes behind square – this one screamer over third man, almost square – that left pundits gushing, the Wankhede roaring and getting Sachin Tendulkar all animated in the MI dug out.

It was the 19th over bowling by Mohammed Shami. An exponent of extracting movement off the surface, there was tinge of in-swing in a delivery pitched on a good length. Yadav skipped away towards the leg stump to make room. All indication was that he would hit it inside out over long-off. But tilting the bat and playing a sliced shot using malleable wrists, he sent the 137.4 kph delivery into the crowd in the MCA pavilion, over square third man.

It's the stand where MS Dhoni deposited his World Cup-winning six, batting from the other end and playing on the V and over wide mid-on. Yadav's shot is likely to be discussed as much as the Dhoni special that has been given permanency with a monument at where it landed.

"No way this is intentional. Don't do this Surya. He did. Unbelievable!" Kevin Pietersen gushed in the commentary box as the cameras panned to Tendulkar, replaying to Piyush Chawla sitting next to him. "@surya_14kumar lit up the evening sky today! He played excellent shots through the innings but the one that stood out for me was the 6 over third man off @MdShami11," he tweeted.

It was the upper cut for Sachin Tendulkar, which sailed over third man for six off Shoaib Akhtar in the 2003 World Cup and acquired iconic status.

Yadav, whose six was part premeditation and hailed as all genius, spoke about picking his shots and scoring areas so that he was absolutely clear in his mind.

"There was lot of dew after 7-8 overs only. So, I knew what my shots were. One side of the ground was 75-80 meters. So, I was prepared for two shots in that over, scooping over third man or flicking over square leg," Yadav explained. "I was not thinking about going straight because he was going to come hard…maybe yorker or short of good length….I had played that shot before, so I just backed myself."

Yadav played other breath-taking shots too. Like hitting speedster Alzarri Joseph for six over long-off. To an incoming delivery, Yadav skipped out and lofted, then held the pose with his now famous dancing hop. Or the six to bring up his hundred by sweeping Joseph over square leg.

MI skipper Rohit Sharma praised his confidence and clarity. "At the start of the tournament, we were thinking whether we should go for a left-right combination (at No 3). Surya came and said 'no, I want to go in'," he said. That puts match-ups in perspective.

Yadav got 50 off his last 15 balls, piercing the field with geometric precision born off visualisation.

He already has three T20I tons. The blip in his India career triggered a debate, but this IPL, as Rohit underlined, shows Yadav doesn't mull over what had gone. "Sometimes you can sit back and feel proud (get complacent) about what you have done, but that is not the case with him."