Mumbai Indians bank on in-form Suryakumar Yadav to thrive as Rohit Sharma & Co look to get closer to Playoff spot with victory over Lucknow Super Giants tonight
Suryakumar Yadav during his 103 not out against Gujarat Titans at Wankhede last Friday. Pic/Ashish Raje
Mumbai Indians (MI) have got their momentum going at the right time when teams are making a frantic dash for the four Playoff spots. Mumbai have won four of their last five games which has kept them in the Top-4 and have a very good chance of making it to the Playoffs if they can overcome difficult conditions as they take on Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Ekana Stadium, where the poor quality of pitches has made more noise than the bats of the players.
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One of the major reasons for MI making a strong comeback has been the form of Suryakumar Yadav. In the last five matches, he has notched up three half-centuries, besides scoring his maiden IPL century. Thanks to his efforts, MI have won all these four games. Thus, to say that his role will be crucial on the unpredictable pitch is to state the obvious. He has been going from strength to strength and the MI management will hope that his form continues for the next few games as they attempt to first, qualify for the Playoffs and then, go all the way to the final.
‘He wants to start afresh’
“Honestly, the kind of confidence he [Suryakumar] brings in, it rubs off on the guys who are batting with him. There’s no looking back. The good thing is every game he wants to start afresh, which is nice for a cricketer to think like that. Sometimes you can sit back [on your laurels] and be very proud about it. But that’s not the case with him,” MI captain Rohit Sharma said about the effect Surya is having on the team.
No doubt Rohit is very happy with the form of Suryakumar and other batters like Ishan Kishan, but his own form has been a concern for the team. He has yet to play a substantial knock barring a half-century against Delhi Capital some matches ago. He had a five single-digit-score streak before he looked like getting back to form when he made 29 against Gujarat Titans before he was done in by Rashid Khan. It was in this match that Surya got a century which helped Mumbai to gain two crucial points.
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At present MI have 14 points from 12 games and desperately need to garner two points against LSG in their penultimate league match so as to not leave their fate to their last league game against Sunrisers Hyderabad to be played in Mumbai.
Crucial games ahead
LSG have been battling it out without their captain KL Rahul, who has undergone a thigh operation in London recently. In his absence, Krunal Pandya has taken charge of the team and is hopeful that they will overcome MI, pocket two valuable points in their penultimate game and carry the fight into the last match against Kolkata Knight Riders. With 13 points from 12 games, they will need to win both matches and hope the results of other games go their way to sneak into the Playoffs. It’s a tough ask, but then as we have seen, anything is possible in the IPL if one keeps the spirit and confidence high.
Hopefully, the crowd in Lucknow braving searing heat will for one final time be able to see the batsmen flourish at the venue where runs have been at a premium. With the home team relying heavily on overseas stroke players like Kyle Mayers, Quinton de Kock, Marcus Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran, a good batting surface could see their team notch up a much-needed win.
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