Mumbai Indians’ (MI) power-hitter Suryakumar Yadav will miss the team’s Indian Premier League (IPL) opener against Gujarat Titans (GT) on Sunday after failing to clear the fitness test at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. According to a report in Cricbuzz, SKY underwent the fitness test on Tuesday but the management refused to give him clearance to take part in the IPL. After failing to clear the test, Suryakumar had taken to Instagram to post a “heartbroken” emoji
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Suryakumar Yadav’s last competitive game was a T20I against South Africa in Johannesburg last December. Suryakumar, who led India in that series, went onto score a century but sustained an ankle injury during the match. The 33-year-old then underwent surgeries for his ankle and later a sports hernia surgery in Germany.
The report adds that SKY will undergo another fitness test on 21 March, and should he clear that, there is a possibility of him featuring in MI’s second match against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on 27 March.
The IPL 2024 season gets underway with a game between defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at Chepauk on 22 March. GT host MI in their season-opener in Ahmedabad a couple of days later, in Sunday’s second game. In IPL 2023, Suryakumar Yadav had notched up 605 runs from 16 matches at a strike rate of 181.14.