"We trust our medical team to do the right things" - MI coach Mark Boucher on Suryakumar Yadav's fitness update ahead of IPL 2024
Mumbai Indians (MI) head coach Mark Boucher hasn't given complete clarity on whether star batter Suryakumar Yadav will be available from the start of their IPL 2024 campaign.
SKY had been ruled out of the T20Is against Afghanistan as he had twisted his ankle. However, the cricketer recently revealed on social media that he had also been diagnosed with sports hernia.
Speaking to the reporters in the pre-season press conference alongside captain Hardik Pandya, here's what Mark Boucher had to say about Suryakumar Yadav's fitness update:
"Surya has been out of the Indian team as well. We are waiting for updates on Suryakumar from BCCI. I don't like to micromanage when we have a world-class medical team that has control of all of this. We trust our medical team to do the right things."
Hardik opened up on his ankle injury during the 2023 World Cup and how it kept him out of competitive action for almost five months. He added:
"I was supposed to be out for one and a half months but I pushed to be fit (for World Cup) and the injury got aggravated. When I got fit, the Afghanistan series just started. So I have been fit since then. But there were no games to play."
Hardik did play in the DY Patil T20 League and has claimed that he is fully fit to play all the games of IPL 2024. It will be interesting to see how Mumbai manage his workload.
Hardik Pandya on MI speedster Jasprit Bumrah
Hardik Pandya is thrilled to have Jasprit Bumrah fit and available for the IPL 2024 season. The Mumbai skipper claimed that Bumrah will also be a part of their leadership group, being the mastermind of the bowling attack. On this, he stated:
"Jassi (Bumrah) has been the No. 1 bowler for a long time. He has been a champion cricketer. This year I am happy that he is available and firing on all cylinders and he is definitely going to be one of the leaders and will make sure that he guides all the bowlers because of the experience and the knowledge which he has."
Bumrah was simply incredible in the recently concluded Test series against England. With him in top form, Mumbai could be aiming to win their record sixth IPL title.