True leader’s knock under pressure

Mumbai Indians’ (MI) stand-in captain Suryakumar Yadav slammed a half-century in the team’s IPL 2026 match against Delhi Capitals (DC) on Saturday, April 4. DC won the toss and elected to field first at Arun Jaitley Stadium in the afternoon fixture.

MI started poorly, losing two early wickets. Pacer Mukesh Kumar dismissed Ryan Rickelton and Tilak Varma in the third over. Suryakumar came out to bat at No. 4 when Mumbai were reeling at 18/2 in 2.5 overs.

Suryakumar steadied the ship for Mumbai with his batting exploits on a two-paced pitch. He scored 51 runs off 36 balls at a strike rate of 141.67, with two sixes and three fours. It is worth noting that it was the 30th half-century of his IPL career.

The 35-year-old redeemed himself after scoring just 16 runs off eight balls in MI’s opening game against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). He earned massive praise from fans for the knock. Here are some of the top reactions on X:

Suryakumar Yadav added 53 runs off 40 balls with Rohit Sharma for the third wicket after the shaky start. The dynamic batter departed soon after his half-century. He got out lbw off Lungi Ngidi’s bowling in the 16th over after being undone by the lack of bounce.

Suryakumar Yadav’s half-century helps MI cross 160-run mark

Suryakumar Yadav was the top performer with the bat for Mumbai. The side posted 162/6 after 20 overs. Rohit Sharma (35 off 26) and Naman Dhir (28 off 21) also chipped in with important contributions.

Mukesh Kumar picked up two wickets, while Lungi Ngidi, Axar Patel, Vipraj Nigam, and T Natarajan claimed one scalp apiece. Meanwhile, MI are currently placed fifth in the points table. They kicked off their campaign with a six-wicket victory over KKR.

DC also began their season with a win, beating Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by six wickets in their opening game. They occupy the fourth spot in the standings.

Edited by Aditya Suketu Desai