Image Credit- AP
Suryakumar Yadav is
still recovering from an ankle operation he underwent earlier in the year,
therefore he could not be ready for the Mumbai Indians’ opening IPL 2024 game
against Gujarat Titans on March 24.
Mark Boucher, the head coach of the Mumbai Indians, did not state whether
Suryakumar had received the go-ahead to play from the BCCI’s medical team, but
he also did not offer a firm fitness update. Prior to leaving for Ahmedabad on
Wednesday, MI will play two warm-up games on Monday. He will be absent from
those games.
“Surya at the moment is on the guidance of the Indian cricket team as
well,” Boucher said at the pre-season press conference in Mumbai on
Monday. “Just waiting for updates on that. I don’t like to micromanage.
We’ve got a world class medical team that’s in control of all of that. Yes, the
past, we have had a few fitness issues. We are always going to be in that sort
of domain of having fitness issues as other teams are as well.
“Every time I look at my WhatsApp’s there’s reports of other teams also
losing players. We trust our medical team that they’re doing the right things.
Look, if we lose one or two from fitness perspective, it is what it is. That’s
important and we just have to keep on the right track and sharp on
replacements.”
The last time
Suryakumar played was during the limited-overs portion of India’s tour of South
Africa in December. After sustaining an ankle injury during the third Twenty20
International in Johannesburg, he underwent two surgeries to treat a sports
hernia and his ankle. He scored 100 runs off 56 balls. His recuperation
prevented him from playing in India’s T20I series against Afghanistan at home
in January, which was the country’s final T20 international match before the
2024 T20 World Cup, which gets underway on June 1 in the USA and the West
Indies.
Suryakumar was aiming to return in the DY Patil T20 Cup, a private annual event
in Mumbai, in the lead up to the IPL but he is presently at the National
Cricket Academy in Bengaluru and is to receive clearance from the BCCI medical
staff.