NEW DELHI: Yet to receive clearance from the
National Cricket Academy
(NCA),
Suryakumar Yadav
is all but out of the
Mumbai Indians IPL 2024
opener against last year's finalist Gujarat Titans on March 24 in Ahmedabad.
The development comes as a major setback for the five-time champions as Surya has been the backbone of MI's batting line-up for some years now.
Surya, who earlier had an ankle surgery, underwent a fitness assessment at the NCA in Bengaluru on Tuesday but has not been cleared to join his franchise, a Cricbuzz report started.
Surya, himself posted a heart-broken emoji on social media on Tuesday, almost confirming the development over his participation.
The swashbuckling batter last featured for India in T20I series in South Africa where he also led the side before undergoing the surgery.
Surya's next fitness test is scheduled for March 21, the Cricbuzz report further stated.
While addressing the media on Monday, Mumbai Indians coach Mark Bouhcer also hinted that Surya could miss a few games.
"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," Boucher said.
"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," he added.
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