Suryakumar Yadav was facing his first ball against spin during the Mumbai Indians’ encounter against the Punjab Kings in Jaipur on Monday.

As Harpreet Brar tossed one up to the right-hander’s off stump, the 34-year-old planted his left foot forward, bent down on his knee, and caressed his sweep shot through backward square leg for a boundary.

“It (The sweep) is one of my most favourite shots, along with the flick,” Surya told the broadcasters at the end of the first innings.

However, Suryakumar faced just seven more balls of spin, none tossed up for the sweep, managing only seven more runs. Shreyas Iyer and the Punjab think tank ensured the MI batter wasn’t served deliveries to his liking. Despite his 39-ball 57 at a strike rate of 146.15, PBKS kept Mumbai well short of the 200-run mark, eventually easing into Qualifier 1 with a seven-wicket win.

The slog sweep — an aerial version of the traditional sweep, usually played in front of square — has been one of Suryakumar’s go-to shots this season. He’s played it 24 times with a strike rate of 358.33. Yet against PBKS, he wasn’t allowed to bring out his trusted weapon even once.

Similarly, his flick shot against pace — another Surya trademark — was effectively neutralised. In IPL 2025, he boasts a strike rate of 220.58 with this shot. But PBKS restricted him to just three attempts, yielding only two runs.

By curbing his favourite modes of attack, Punjab ensured Suryakumar couldn’t dominate. His partners, forced to compensate, fell under the pressure, resulting in regular dismissals.

A key aspect of Punjab’s plan was the use of length. The yorker, Suryakumar’s least productive length this season, was a focus. PBKS bowlers delivered three yorkers, conceding just two runs. His dismissal — leg before on the final ball of the innings — came from one in the blockhole.

Full and back-of-a-length balls also troubled Surya this season, with his strike rates hovering around 140. PBKS exploited this weakness, delivering 19 of the 39 balls he faced at these lengths. His combined strike rate against these deliveries during the match? Just 115.79.

Left-arm pace has also been a challenge for Suryakumar this season. Before this match, he had faced 31 balls from left-arm seamers, scoring only 38 runs, including 16 dot balls. PBKS capitalised on this with Arshdeep Singh and Marco Jansen.

Of the 12 balls he faced from the two left-armers, Surya managed just 10 runs, including a solitary boundary — a thick outside edge two balls into his innings. He managed only two runs from the four balls he faced from Arshdeep in the final over, further stifling Mumbai’s total.

“He (Suryakumar) scored 50-odd, but we managed to contain him. We got some help from the wicket. We wanted him to play to our strength, not to his, and that’s what we did,” Shashank Singh explained in the post-match press conference.

Despite his six fours and two sixes, Suryakumar’s fifty was one of his less fluent knocks. Punjab’s strategy of steering him away from his preferred shots proved crucial in restricting Mumbai’s total to a manageable score.