Five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians could be without their best batter, Suryakumar Yadav, for their first match against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad on Sunday (March 24). SKY, as most fans call him, last played on December 14 against South Africa in a T20I match in Johannesburg and has been away since, recovering from the ankle surgery he underwent earlier this year.

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Speaking to the media in a presser on Monday (March 18), Mumbai Indians head coach Mark Boucher remained tight-lipped on Suryakumar’s fitness status, hinting at his absence from the XI for the marquee clash this coming Sunday. Per the latest reports, SKY will miss MI’s two warm-up games on Monday and Wednesday (March 20) before they fly to Ahmedabad for GT clash.

Boucher said he keeps reading several reports of players getting injured and missing action but admitted to trusting MI’s medical staff to take care of the star batter as the 17th season of IPL looms. 

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“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, there are 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 a fitness perspective, it is what it is. That’s important, and we just have to keep on the right track and sharp on replacements,” Boucher explained.

Record-breaker SKY yet to return to action

Meanwhile, since slamming his record-equalling fourth T20I hundred against the Proteas at the Wanderers, SKY missed all on-field action. He has undergone two surgeries since, one for his ankle and another for a sports hernia. 

Although without him, India won the T20I series against Afghanistan (at home in January) – their last white-ball assignment before IPL begins, the Men in Blue will need SKY at number four in the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the USA in June.

Per the earlier reports, Suryakumar, like Hardik Pandya, who was also away from international cricket in October last year, was set to play in the DY Patil T20 Cup, a private annual event in Mumbai, but remained on the sidelines, waiting to get fitness clearance certificate from the doctors at the NCA.

The IPL 2024 begins on March 22 (Friday) in Chennai, with CSK and RCB playing the tournament opener. 

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