Chennai Super Kings (CSK) pace bowler Akash Madhwal has named Mumbai Indians (MI) star Suryakumar Yadav as the toughest batter he has bowled to. Madhwal initially went unsold at the IPL 2026 auction before joining CSK as an injury replacement for Ayush Mhatre as well.

Speaking to Sports Tak, Akash Madhwal shared: “I bowled to SKY, Suryakumar Yadav bhaiya, in an MI practice match. So, he is too difficult. Especially in T20s, it’s very difficult. I bowled to him and I know he hit me for many sixes. I still remember those sixes. He hit me behind. He hit those unorthodox shots. For those shots, you don’t even have the field set or a delivery that works against them. But even when he plays those shots, we feel like, wow, what a shot that was.”

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However, Akash Madhwal also stated that he did not discuss bowling techniques with veteran speedster Jasprit Bumrah during his time with MI. He also added that their bowling actions are different and that he gained experience from Bumrah on how to deal with different situations.

He shared: “I didn’t really talk to him about bowling technique because there is a big difference between his action and mine. The effort his body puts in is a bit different. His action is a bit different from ours. So, I would just gain experience from him about what I could bowl if I were to find myself in those situations. In case I get hit for two sixes back-to-back, what can I do and how? How can I change my field settings?

“So, we talked more about the game rather than his bowling, because there are very few bowlers like him in the world, and it’s very hard to be like him. But we would talk based on his experience, like, ‘Brother, what do you think?’ If a batsman hits you for a four or a boundary on the first ball, what are your thoughts? What do you look for? How do you read the game? How do you read the conditions? These were the things we talked about,” Akash Madhwal concluded.