"He didn't try to play shots like Suryakumar Yadav" - Sunil Gavaskar lauds Nehal Wadhera's knock in MI's IPL 2023 win vs RCB

Sunil Gavaskar has lauded Nehal Wadhera for not trying to replicate Suryakumar Yadav's pyrotechnics in the Mumbai Indians' (MI) IPL 2023 win against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).

RCB set MI a 200-run target after being asked to bat first at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday, May 9. Wadhera then scored an unbeaten 52 off 34 balls as Rohit Sharma and Co. chased down the target with six wickets and 21 deliveries to spare to climb into third position in the points table.

During a post-match discussion on Star Sports, Gavaskar heaped praise on Nehal Wadhera for sticking to his game, elaborating:

"The way Wadhera played today, when you play with Suryakumar Yadav you get more courage and the bowling looks easy, but he didn't try to play shots like Suryakumar Yadav. He played his natural game and that is how it should be."

The former Indian captain was particularly appreciative of the southpaw's balance at the crease, explaining:

"The most impressive thing about Wadhera was his balance at the crease. I always see a batter's balance. He didn't move too much. He stood at his place and hit balls with a steady head. Extremely impressive - it is his second consecutive half-century and more will come."

Wadhera joined Suryakumar (83 off 35) in the middle when the Mumbai Indians lost Ishan Kishan and Rohit Sharma in the same over. The duo strung together a 140-run third-wicket partnership in just 10.4 overs to virtually seal the game in the five-time champions' favor.

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"This guy took advantage of the opportunity" - Harbhajan Singh on Nehal Wadhera

Nehal Wadhera scored 64 runs in MI's previous game against CSK. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Harbhajan Singh was further asked about Nehal Wadhera grabbing his chance of getting to bat up the order in Tilak Varma's absence, to which he responded:

"When a young player gets a chance, he should not throw it away but make the most of it. This guy took advantage of the opportunity. He was brought from under-25 to Ranji Trophy, there he scored a double-hundred and then he was fast-tracked into the Mumbai Indians side."

The former Indian spinner pointed out that the Punjab youngster has all shots in his arsenal, stating:

"After that, when Tilak got injured, he got to play and he has scored 50-plus runs in the last two matches. He showed that the guy has the might. He has all the shots. He plays good cut shots, pulls and drives, and the way he finished the match by hitting over cover, that was an unbelievable shot."

Wadhera struck four fours and three sixes during his innings. He finished the game by clubbing a Harshal Patel delivery over cover for a maximum to bring up his second successive half-century.