Mumbai Indians (MI) batter Suryakumar Yadav is racing against the clock to play in the franchise’s first two IPL 2024 matches, against the Gujarat Titans on March 24 and the SunRisers Hyderabad on March 27.
Reportedly, Suryakumar Yadav is recuperating from an ankle injury at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) located in Bengaluru. This injury occurred during late last year’s South Africa trip with India. Although there have been public posts about his progress in strength and conditioning practices, his current status regarding batting remains uncertain.
“Surya’s rehabilitation is on track and he will certainly ‘Return to Play’ in the IPL itself,” a BCCI source told PTI on condition of anonymity. “However it is still not clear whether the NCA’s Sports Science and Medical Team will give clearance to play in the first two away games against Gujarat Titans and Sunrisers Hyderabad.”
“There are still 12 days to go before MI play their first game but it could be a race against time to get fit by the first match itself,” the source added.
In between the second and third matches of Mumbai, there’s a four-day break. This is when the Rajasthan Royals are scheduled to arrive at Wankhede, on April 1st.
MI will have to carefully manage Suryakumar Yadav’s workload since, following the IPL, India would go to the West Indies and the United States for the 2024 T20 World Cup, when he will also be the most essential player.
Who Steps Up for Mumbai Indians in Suryakumar Yadav’s Absence?
Although Hardik Pandya’s return has significantly improved their batting balance, the Mumbai Indians do not have many experienced Indian hitting backups on their roster. Shivalik Sharma from Baroda may be the only one who fits the bill.
Instead of batting in Suryakumar Yadav’s middle-order role, they may try to push either Ishan Kishan or Rohit Sharma – both of whom have performed well further down the order – and play a youngster as an opener for the first two games.
The third alternative would be to adjust their favored foreign lineup and play someone like Romario Shepherd.