Suryakumar Yadav has been declared fit by the National Cricket Academy and is likely to join the Mumbai Indians camp in the next two days, Revsportz has learnt.
On April 2, RevSportz reported that Surya, the world’s number one T20I batsman, was on the verge of getting his fitness clearance from the NCA and he might be available for MI’s home fixture against Delhi Capitals on April 7. The franchise is hopeful that his reintegration will go to plan.
“Yes, Surya has received his fitness clearance and we expect him to join the squad in the next two days,” an MI insider told RevSportz. “Our coaches will assess him at the nets (his match fitness) and based on that he will be included in the playing XI either in the game against DC or our next game (against Royal Challengers Bengaluru) on April 11. When Surya is available, he will straightaway go into the XI,” he added.
It is learnt that Surya underwent another round of fitness test on April 2 after which he was given the go-ahead. He has been out of action since mid-December after suffering an ankle injury in South Africa. Later, he was diagnosed with sports hernia and underwent surgery. He has been doing his rehab at the NCA since.
MI badly need the Surya boost after losing their first three matches in this year’s IPL. The team is looking for a quick turnaround and the middle-order batsman, his lack of game time notwithstanding, could be their x-factor.
Meanwhile, the source rubbished the rumour that Hardik Pandya might hand over the captaincy to Rohit Sharma. “This is ridiculous. Why will he (Pandya) step down? What wrong has he done,” said the source.