Suryakumar Yadav is getting better from his injury, but it’s not certain if he’ll play in Mumbai Indians’ first two matches in IPL 2024. Right now, it’s unlikely. Surya hurt himself last December and had surgery in January in Germany. He’s getting treatment at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.
Mumbai Indians will start playing on Sunday, March 24, which is two days after the IPL 2024 starts. Their first match is against Gujarat Titans, who were runners-up last year. It’s a race against time for Suryakumar Yadav, who’s the top T20 player in the world.
A BCCI source said that the NCA medical team might not say it’s okay for Surya to play in the first two matches of IPL 2024.
“Suryakumar Yadav is getting better, and he’ll play in the IPL. But we’re not sure if he’ll get the okay to play in the first two away matches against Gujarat Titans and Sunrisers Hyderabad (March 27),” a BCCI source said.
On Surya’s Instagram, he’s shown doing a lot of Strength and Conditioning workouts, but he hasn’t posted any videos of him batting yet. His last game was on December 14 against South Africa. He missed the DY Patil T20 Cup.
“There are still 12 days before MI’s first game, but it might be tough to get fit in time,” the source said. Surya was last seen at the pre-wedding events of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant in Jamnagar.
Surya is a key player for India in T20 with a strike-rate of over 171 and 2,141 runs in 60 T20 matches. He has four T20 International hundreds. He led India to victory in a T20 series against Australia after the ODI World Cup. India’s chances in the T20 World Cup in the Americas (USA and West Indies) will depend a lot on how Surya performs. And for Mumbai Indians to do well, Surya needs to be available from the start.
