Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians(MI) are dealing with the injury blow of the stellar performer, Suryakumar Yadav. The chances of the availability of Suryakumar for their IPL 2022 opener against Delhi Capitals on Sunday still remain up in the air. Suryakumar Yadav had sustained a hairline fracture on his thumb during the third T20I against West Indies on February 22. The 31-year-old batter has since been in rehab at the NCA in Bengaluru, but there has been no update about him. This led to many reports stating that Suryakumar is most likely to miss MI’s first match of the season.
Rohit Sharma breaks his silence on Suryakumar Yadav’s injury
Rohit Sharma provided a huge update on where Suryakumar Yadav’s fitness stands. Sharma stated that he is currently at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) and would join the squad once the team receives clearance from the NCA.
“Surya is at the NCA at the moment. He is recovering well. He will be here soon and yeah, I can’t give you his availability right now… whether he will be there to play the first game or not, but yeah, we are trying to get him here as soon as possible once we have the clearance from NCA,” Rohit Sharma pointed out.
Suryakumar has been one of the most crucial batters for the five-time champions in the last few years. Despite MI not being able to qualify for the play-offs in IPL 2022, he was MI’s second-highest run-scorer with 317 runs at a strike rate of 143.43 and an average of 22. He was one of the four players retained by MI along with Rohit, Kieron Pollard and Jasprit Bumrah.
The 15th edition of the cash-rich tournament is set to be played across four venues in Maharashtra – MI are scheduled to play five matches at the Wankhede Stadium, but Rohit doesn’t see it giving MI any advantage over other teams. Besides, with the return of the group format, the first time in 11 years, Rohit feels proper planning would be the key moving forward for the five-time champions. We will have to see what future holds for Suryakumar Yadav.