Suryakumar Yadav, Mumbai Indians (MI) star, is all but ruled out of the franchise's IPL 2024 opener against Gunjarat Titans on March 24 in Ahmedabad. Notably, Suryakumar is on his way to recovery after a successful sports hernia operation but has not yet received a clearance from the National Cricket Academy (NCA) which is what has seems to have ruled him out of MI's first match of the season.
The news was confirmed by news agency IANS citing NCA sources. The development comes as a bit of a setback to the team with Suryakumar being one of the star performers for them in their batting order. The team is undergoing a transition period with Rohit Sharma, the man who has led the team to each of their five titles, set to play as a specialits batter this year with the management deciding to appoint Hardik Pandya as the captain.
Suspense Lifted Over Suryakumar Yadav's 'Heartbreaking' Instagram Story
While there was a bit of a supsense over Suryakumar Yadav's Instagram story in which he had shared a 'heartbreak' emoji, it can now be confirmed that the story was posted confirming his unavailailability for MI's IPL 2024 opener. The 33-year-old underwent a final assessment at the NCA in Bangalore on Tuesday but has not got a green signal to go ahead and join his franchise ahead of IPL 2024.
The word's number 1 T20I batter, Suryakumar Yadav, last donned India colours during the T20I series against South Africa where he was also the captain in the absence of both Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya. The batter will return for a fitness test on March 21, the result of which could decide his participation in MI's remaining games, a report carried by Cricbuzz confirmed.
The Mumbai batter has played 139 IPL matches and scored 3249 runs at an average of 31.85 and a strike rate of 143.32.