"This was the best knock of the entire season" - Harbhajan Singh lauds Team India star's inning in MI's IPL 2025 win vs DC

Former India player Harbhajan Singh has lauded Suryakumar Yadav for playing a match-winning knock in the Mumbai Indians' (MI) IPL 2025 clash against the Delhi Capitals (DC). He opined that the unbeaten half-century in Wednesday's game was the Indian T20I captain's best knock this season.

Suryakumar scored an unbeaten 73 off 43 deliveries as MI set DC a 181-run target in Match 63 of IPL 2025 in Mumbai on May 21. The home team then bundled Faf du Plessis and company out for 121 runs to register a 59-run win and seal a spot in the playoffs.

Reviewing the MI-DC IPL 2025 clash on Star Sports, Harbhajan praised Suryakumar for playing a game-defining knock in difficult batting conditions.

"A good player's sign is that he takes the game deep, and then he has so much belief in himself that if he stays till the end, which he would, he would change the complexion of the game, and we have seen Suryakumar Yadav doing that not once, but thousands of times," he said.

"He understood the demands of the conditions and took the game deep, and when he got a chance, he opened his arms in such a way that he took the game far away from the opposition. I feel this was the best knock of the entire season. The other innings might have come much quicker, but the bowlers were in the game in today's conditions," the former India spinner added.

Suryakumar Yadav struck seven fours and four sixes during his 73-run knock. He walked out to bat when MI were reduced to 48/2 in the sixth over, and stayed till the end to ensure that they reached a potential match-winning total.

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"The bowlers were dominant when he went to bat" - Harbhajan Singh on Suryakumar Yadav pacing his innings perfectly in MI's IPL 2025 win vs DC

Suryakumar Yadav (right) and Naman Dhir smashed 48 runs in the last two overs of MI's innings in their IPL 2025 clash against DC. [P/C: Getty]

In the same discussion, Harbhajan Singh noted that Suryakumar Yadav concentrated on singles and doubles when the bowlers were on top before taking them to the cleaners.

"An extremely satisfying innings. This wasn't an inning where he scored runs on a flat pitch. The bowlers were dominant when he went to bat. He took his time there and understood how to bat on this pitch. He drove the game through singles and doubles, and demolished them in the last three overs," he said.

The cricketer-turned-commentator added that Suryakumar's knock took MI to an above-par total.

"We were saying 160-odd runs would be enough here, and they scored 180. 180 runs were not going to be chased on this wicket. Suryakumar Yadav is the No. 1 T20 player in world cricket. No matter how the conditions are, when he plays, he wins the game," Harbhajan observed.

MI seemed to be in a spot of bother when they were 132/5 after 18 overs in their IPL 2025 clash against DC. However, Suryakumar Yadav and Naman Dhir (24* off 8) smashed 27 runs off the penultimate over before the former scored 21 runs off the final over to take them to a total that proved more than sufficient.