'Comes From Local Tennis Ball Cricket': MI Star Suryakumar Yadav Opens up on Origins of 'Supla' Shot

Star Indian batter and Mumbai Indians maverick Suryakumar Yadav notched up an incredible unbeaten ton against Sunrisers Hyderabad to give his team a morale-boosting win in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League.

Suryakumar has demonstrated his astounding batting prowess with each passing season, coming up with surprise cricketing strokes that take the bowlers and audience by surprise.

The 33-year-old has produced some staggering strokeplay, smashing the bowlers all around the park, and his ability with the willow was on full display against SRH in his 103-run innings.

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Probably the most famous shot in his creative batting repertoire is the ‘supla’ shot, which is more of an instinct per the stylish batter. He added that the shot originated from the time he used to play cricket with tennis and rubber balls in the streets of Mumbai.

“I suppose the name of the shot comes from the local tennis ball cricket that is played in Mumbai,” Yadav explained.

“And from there, when I started playing that shot because people have played a lot of it in tennis ball cricket, they started connecting with this shot and gave it a name. When the shot is played and is referred to as a ‘Supla’ shot, it feels good to hear,” he added.

Yadav added that his experience in playing cricket using rubber balls also had a bearing on his perfecting the incredibly difficult technique.

“The story behind the shot is beautiful. I used to play cricket on hard cement tracks with my school friends. We used to play with rubber balls in the rainy season and make the ball wet before bowling it hard,” he reminisced.

“They used to bowl from my knee to my head, so if you want to score runs while not getting hit by the ball, that’s where the shot comes from. Whenever people ask me if I have practised this or not, I have used this shot so many times in rubber ball cricket that it’s now in my muscle memory,” he clarified.

He went on to explain his approach to the shot and expressed that there was no premeditation involved and he sought to enjoy and entertain with his strokemaking ability.

“I actually try to take the ball on the body when I play the ‘Supla’ shot. Whenever I stand and hit, I try to be in the line of the ball. If you miss the line of the ball, it’s very difficult to play that shot. I try to take the ball in line with the body and time it,” the batter said.

“There’s no premeditation in this… Even if it’s the first ball, if I want to use it, I’ll do it because I go with the intent to bat, enjoy, and entertain as much as I can, as much as I have practised,” he elucidated.

“Even if it’s the first ball, if it’s in the arc, it will go. So, the fielder at the back is actually irrelevant for me. I don’t see if he is there or not. If I want to play a shot, I have to play it,” the 33-year-old asserted.

Yadav is also capable of producing unique shots in different parts of the ground, and one that stands out in his arsenal is the scoop on the offside he negotiated English pacer Jofra Archer with, during the 2022 season of the IPL. One of the pacer’s delivery hit the batter on the head, but the batter did not flinch as he came up with an exquisite shot to dispatch the seamer to the ropes.

“On the previous delivery, it hit me on my head and my head was spinning! After that, I thought I had to hit a different shot. I haven’t used this shot again since,” the batter iterated.