Suryakumar Yadav and Dewald Brevis: The duo that can transform Mumbai Indians' fortune in IPL 2023
Mumbai Indians had a forgetful IPL 2022, where they lost 10 of their 14 league games to finish at the bottom of the points table. Despite having a pretty balanced line-up, the Rohit Sharma-led side could not click as a unit and failed miserably last season.
The fact that MI have been the most successful team in the history of the IPL with five titles under their belt, along with two Champions League trophies, made last year’s bottom finish even more painful for the Mumbai-based franchise.
Mumbai Indians could not click as a team, which led to their downfall last season. However, the team management will be hoping for a change in fortunes as they will be banking on 19-year-old Dewald Brevis as well as Suryakumar Yadav, two of the most dreaded batters in T20 cricket.
SKY and Brevis: Mumbai Indians to bank on the exploits from the duo
Suryakumar Yadav has been a revelation for India in the last couple of years with consistent performances in T20 cricket. In 2021, he was rewarded with an Indian debut in T20 cricket after scoring truckloads of runs and impressive contributions in the IPL over the years for his franchise.
Since his debut, the Mumbai batter has played 45 T20 internationals and scored 1578 runs at an average of 46.41 with an astonishing strike-rate of over 180 including three centuries. The fact that SKY has reached the No. 1 rankings in T20I cricket in just 45 matches speaks volumes of his dominance in the shortest format of the game.
Dewald Brevis, on the other hand, could just be the perfect foil for Suryakumar Yadav in the middle-order for Mumbai Indians. Last year, SKY was out of the initial few games due to injury and Brevis was transitioning from under-19 cricket to the big stage of the IPL.
However, this could be the season where Brevis, fondly compared to AB De Villiers for the resemblance in the style of play, could own the stage amongst the global glare. The 19-year-old South African has taken giant leaps in T20 cricket in recent times, smashing a century in just 35 deliveries in the CSA T20 challenge.
Though one can argue that both Brevis and SKY have a similar style of play and like to attack from the word go, it could just be the right thing for Mumbai Indians as an explosive batter in the middle-order could be the perfect compliment for Suryakumar Yadav as it would take the pressure off him.
Overall, the team management of Mumbai Indians will be hoping for the duo to click as it will turn out to be a strong combination along with the likes of Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Verma, and Tim David.