Mullanpur (Punjab) [India], May 30 (ANI): Star Mumbai Indians (MI) batter Suryakumar Yadav has plenty of individual records and accomplishments to chase as he gets ready for the all-important crucial eliminator game against Gujarat Titans (GT) at Mullanpur on Friday. Another 48 runs will help him overcome South African icon AB de Villiers non-opening batter IPL record.

MI and GT will be battling it out at Mullanpur, with the winner joining Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the Qualifier two for a spot in the final against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). While the loser will meet the end of their IPL journey.

So far in the tournament, Suryakumar is the top run-getter for the team with 640 runs in 14 innings at an average of 71.11 and a strike rate of 167.97, with five half-centuries. His best score is 73*. He is also the third-highest run-getter in the competition so far. As per ESPNCricinfo, he is the first-ever non-opening batter to have scored over 600 runs in a season twice (in 2023 as well, with 605 runs in 16 matches, including a century and five fifties). If he scores 48 more runs, he will go past De Villiers' run tally of 687 from 2016 to become the non-opening batter with the highest number of runs in a single IPL edition.

The veteran has been absolutely amazing for MI in a variety of conditions and match situations so far, but it is the middle-over phase of overs seven to sixteen that he has mastered the most. He has scored 41.17 per cent of MI's runs in this phase, a total of 480 runs, the highest by a single batter in middle overs for his team in this competition so far.

In 11 IPL knockout matches, Suryakumar has scored 329 runs in 10 innings at an average of 36.55, with a strike rate of 133.19 and three half-centuries. His best score is 71*.

Will Suryakumar score big and have a gigantic 700-run season to his name?

Squads:

Gujarat Titans Squad: Shubman Gill(c), Sai Sudharsan, Kusal Mendis(w), Sherfane Rutherford, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Arshad Khan, Gerald Coetzee, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Anuj Rawat, Mahipal Lomror, Ishant Sharma, Washington Sundar, Jayant Yadav, Dasun Shanaka, Karim Janat, Kulwant Khejroliya, Manav Suthar, Kumar Kushagra, Gurnoor Brar, Nishant Sindhu

Mumbai Indians Squad: Rohit Sharma, Jonny Bairstow(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Charith Asalanka, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, Ashwani Kumar, Karn Sharma, Raj Bawa, Satyanarayana Raju, Bevon Jacobs, Robin Minz, Arjun Tendulkar, Raghu Sharma, Krishnan Shrijith, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Richard Gleeson, Reece Topley. (ANI)