Suryakumar Yadav to join Mumbai Indians squad ahead of MI vs DC: Watch

Suryakumar Yadav (Pic: AFP)

Star batsman Suryakumar Yadav will join the Mumbai Indians (MI) squad in the ongoing IPL 2024 on Friday, ESPNcricinfo reported on Friday.

Yadav has yet to play in the IPL 2024 since he is recovering from ankle surgery he underwent earlier this year at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore. According to ESPNcricinfo, it is still yet to be confirmed whether he will be fit for Sunday's match against the Delhi Capitals (DC) at the Wankhede Stadium.

Yadav last competed in December, striking a 56-ball 100 in the third T20I against South Africa in Johannesburg. He sustained an ankle injury during that contest. He needed surgery for both an ankle and a sports hernia. As a result, he was ruled out of India's three-match T20I series against Afghanistan at home, which was their final T20I bilateral series before the World Cup in June.

Suryakumar was the first to arrive for the training session at the Wankhede Stadium, more than an hour before his teammates came for the afternoon session.

Suryakumar walked into one of the two nets and batted for more than an hour, not looking to exert himself but getting his body in rhythm and getting his strokes going a few days after he was given the clearance to join the Mumbai Indians' squad by the National Cricket Academy (NCA) staff.

The right-handed batter unleashed strokes in all parts of the ground while batting against throwdown specialists and MI spinner Kumar Kartikeya. He hit the ball exactly the way he wanted, middling most of his strokes and also practiced his trademark flick shot over the fine-leg region.

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The team is coming off a short break after taking a trip to Jamnagar following its third straight loss in the ongoing tournament, the last one being a six-wickets defeat Rajasthan Royals on April 1.

Meanwhile, in the adjacent nets, Delhi Capitals and Australia batter David Warner had a long hit among the others. Mumbai's Ranji Trophy bowler Mohit Awasthi was also seen bowling to the Delhi Capitals' batters during their training.

Meanwhile, Mumbai lost their all three matches so far and is at the bottom of the points chart. With three out of three defeats, Mumbai have once again lived up to their tag of being conventional slow beginners in the IPL.

The Hardik Pandya-led side suffered defeats against Gujarat Titans (GT) in Ahmedabad, they were later mauled by the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) batters in their following game and lost their first home game against Rajasthan Royals earlier this week.

(With agency inputs)