File photo of Suryakumar Yadav© X (formerly Twitter)
In a major boost for the struggling Mumbai Indians, world number one T20 batsman Suryakumar Yadav trained with the team on Friday after a long injury break and unleashed his trademark shots without any visible discomfort, raising hopes that he could compete in the team’s next IPL match against Delhi Capitals. Five-time champions Mumbai Indians are languishing at the bottom of the 10-team table after losing all three matches so far. If Suryakumar plays, the Hardik Pandya-led team will hope his presence helps them in the expected turnaround. The 33-year-old aggressive batsman has been out of action since January. He underwent surgery to treat a sports hernia and was also battling an ankle injury sustained during India’s tour of South Africa late last year.
Suryakumar arrived first for training at the Wankhede Stadium, over an hour before his teammates arrived for the afternoon session.
Suryakumar ran into one of the two nets and batted for over an hour. He didn’t want to exert himself but tried to get his body into rhythm and his strokes going, a few days after he was cleared by the Mumbai Indians to join the Mumbai Indians squad. Employees of the National Cricket Academy (NCA).
The right-handed batsman unleashed blows to all parts of the ground while batting against throwdown specialists and MI spinner Kumar Kartikeya. He hit the ball exactly how he wanted, using most of his shots moderately, and also practiced his trademark flick shot over the fine leg area.
The team is coming out of a short break after traveling to Jamnagar following its third straight defeat in the ongoing tournament, the last of which was a six-wicket defeat against Rajasthan Royals on April 1.
Meanwhile, Delhi Capitals and Australian batsman David Warner, among others, hit a long single in the adjacent nets. Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy bowler Mohit Awasthi was also spotted bowling to the Delhi Capitals batters during their training.
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