IPL 2024: No clearance from NCA rules out Suryakumar Yadav from MI's first match against GT - Reports

Suryakumar Yadav amassed 603 runs in 16 matches including one ton in the IPL 2023.

Just a few days away from the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season, five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) have been dealt with a major blow as their star batter Suryakumar Yadav is all set to miss the franchise’s opening fixture against Gujarat Titans (GT) on March 24, according to reports.

The world No. 1 T20I batter is away from action since he last played away three-match T20I series against South Africa in December 2023. Since then, SKY hasn’t played cricket at any level and also underwent surgery for sports hernia. The Indian batter was expected to get fit in time for the upcoming 17th edition of the IPL, but that doesn’t seem to be happening now.

According to a report in Cricbuzz, the MI key batter didn’t get a green signal from the National Cricket Academy (NCA), where he is currently recovering from his ongoing injury. His next fitness test is scheduled for March 21.

With five-time champions set to play their first game of the IPL 2024 season against GT at the Narendra Modi international cricket stadium in Ahmedabad on March 24, it is understood that the 360-degree batter might miss a few more IPL games with MI facing their next opponents Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on March 27.

Moreover, with the ICC T20 World Cup also coming up just after the prestigious tournament, NCA doesn’t seem to be taking any chances with the fitness of key Indian players. Interestingly, only a few hours ago, Surya had posted a heartbreak emoji in his Instagram story and since then, there were speculations around his participation in IPL 2024.

Here is the Instagram story of Suryakumar Yadav:

MI head coach Mark Boucher’s update on Suryakumar Yadav

Only a day before reports over Suryakumar’s availability came in, MI head coach Mark Boucher during MI’s pre-season press conference had stated that the star middle-order batter is under BCCI medical team’s observation and the franchise is awaiting an update.

“We are awaiting updates on Suryakumar from the BCCI. We have always been under a cloud of fitness issues but we have a world-class medical team. We may lose one or two in terms of fitness but we have to move on. As the coach of Mumbai Indians, I am going to be a little bit biased and hope to see my best players in all the games. I have a soft spot for my players and I do understand that they might have niggles and that’s when I will fall back on my medical team and work with them accordingly,” Boucher said.

Also Read: Who is Luke Wood? All you need to know about England pacer who replaced Jason Behrendorff in MI squad for IPL 2024

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