Five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians will start their campaign in IPL 2024 with a new captain at the helm in the form of Hardik Pandya. Rohit Sharma was removed from captaincy a few days after the IPL mini auction. Hardik Pandya, brought in from Gujarat Titans on a trade deal, was handed over the reigns. However, before the start of the campaign, Mumbai Indians have a couple of nagging injury concerns ahead of the upcoming season.
Mumbai Indians Injury Concerns
Hardik Pandya– Hardik Pandya has been out of International cricket since injuring his ankle in the 2023 ODI World Cup. Since then, Hardik has not featured for the Indian team and has missed a number of series after the World Cup including the Afghanistan series, South Africa series, Australia series and the ongoing England series. However, Hardik Pandya has already started intense training ahead of IPL 2024 and will likely feature in the Red & Gold colours from the start of the tournament.
Suryakumar Yadav– Suryakumar Yadav, another experienced batter of Mumbai Indians, has been out of competitive cricket since the T20I series against Afghanistan. On December 14, 2023, Yadav hurt his ankle while fielding in Johannesburg. His fitness concerns were exacerbated when it was discovered that he had a sports hernia as a result of the injury. Suryakumar was consequently declared ineligible to play until February 2024, missing vital World Cup preparation time. Suryakumar underwent a surgery in January 2024. However, Surya has returned to the nets ahead of IPL 2024 and is likely to return to action in IPL 2024.
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Other Concerns
Ishan Kishan- Ishan Kishan has been under a lot of pressure since being axed from BCCI’s central contract. The wicketkeeper-batter took a break in the South Africa series and ignored BCCI’s diktat to play Ranji Trophy. He recently returned to competitive cricket with the DY Patil T20 tournament. It remains to be seen if he will be fully match-fit to feature for the Mumbai Indians from the start of the tournament.
Undercurrent regarding MI captaincy- Indian captain Rohit Sharma was rather unceremoniously removed from captaincy a few days after the IPL mini auction. Hardik Pandya was handed the captaincy armband. Although MI coach Mark Boucher tried to justify the change of guard, Rohit’s wife Ritika laid the gaps bare by her comment on the social media. The rift can potentially lead to an undercurrent which has the capability to affect the morale of the team in the long run.
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