The most valuable player of the match in my humble opinion is not Suryakumar Yadav, but Rashid Khan: Aakash Chopra

Five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Mumbai Indians (MI) defeated defending champions Gujarat Titans in a high-scoring thriller at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Friday, May 12. The players from both sides delivered several spectacular knocks during the game. MI’s Suryakumar Yadav struck an IPL century, smashing 103* off 49 balls as the hosts set a mammoth 219-run target. 

Meanwhile, GT all-rounder Rashid Khan smashed an unbeaten 79 off 32 balls despite failing to get his team past the line as they lost by a margin of 27 runs. Notably, he also claimed a four-wicket haul in the first innings. For MI, Impact Player Akash Madhwal took three wickets, while Piyush Chawla and Kumar Kartikeya picked two, and Jason Behrendorff scalped one. 

While reviewing the IPL 2023 match in a video on his YouTube channel, former India opener Aakash Chopra chose Rashid as the most valuable player (MVP) rather than Suryakumar. He believed that if the Titans’ top-order batters had scored a few more runs, Rashid may have single-handedly led his side to victory over Mumbai.

“The most valuable player of the match in my humble opinion, is not Suryakumar Yadav. The most valuable player is Rashid Khan. If he had gotten a little help from someone else, if they were not 55/5, Rashid Khan would have single-handedly won them the match,” Chopra said.

218 runs were scored and in that Rashid picked up four wickets: Chopra

The former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batter said that despite MI posting a large score, the GT leg-spinner stood out with the ball. The 45-year-old added that the Afghan all-rounder picked four wickets which included both MI openers.

“218 runs were scored, and in that, he picked up four wickets, which included the wickets of both openers, then Nehal Wadhera’s wicket and Tim David’s wicket later. What more can anyone do?” he added.

GT currently leads the IPL 2023 points table with 16 points, while MI are in third place with 14 points. On May 16, Mumbai will face the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow. Meanwhile, the Hardik Pandya-led side will host Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on May 15 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.