“Suryakumar Yadav might be a bit rusty” - Aakash Chopra on MI batter’s likely return for IPL 2022 clash against KKR

Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra reckons that Mumbai Indians’ (MI) star batter Suryakumar Yadav might be a bit rusty if he plays against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Wednesday, according to the IPL 2022 schedule.

The 31-year-old has not played any competitive cricket since the third T20I against West Indies in Kolkata in February. He suffered a finger injury during the series and has been out of action since.

Suryakumar is likely to replace Anmolpreet Singh in the MI line-up for the match against KKR at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium in Pune. However, according to Chopra, things might not be as easy for the prolific batter upon his return to the IPL team. Speaking on his YouTube channel, he explained:

“Suryakumar Yadav is available. He might come in for Anmolpreet Singh. But I feel Suryakumar Yadav might be a bit rusty because he hasn’t played for a while. He is a quality player but he will be up against a quality bowling line-up. He will need to find some rhythm.”

Before getting injured, the right-handed batter had an impressive limited-overs series against the Windies at home. He registered scores of 34*, 64 and eight in the ODIs and 34*, eight and 65 in the T20Is.

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“Tilak Varma has been absolutely sensational” - Aakash Chopra on MI’s young batting star

While Mumbai are yet to taste victory in IPL 2022, young batter Tilak Varma has impressed many with his positive strokeplay. The 19-year-old scored 22 off 15 balls against the Delhi Capitals (DC) before hammering 61 off 33 deliveries against a strong Rajasthan Royals (RR) bowling attack.

Praising the aggressive left-handed batter, Chopra said:

“Tilak Varma has been absolutely sensational. There is no doubt about that. I am really looking forward to another impressive performance from him.”

He also pointed to the good form of opener Ishan Kishan while adding that Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma is expected to come good against KKR. The 44-year-old stated:

“Ishan Kishan is playing really well. He has scored runs in both the games Mumbai have played so far. Skipper Rohit Sharma scored 40 in one of the two games and got out early in the other. But you expect him to fire.”

Kishan hammered an unbeaten 81 off 48 balls against DC and followed it up with 54 off 43 deliveries against RR. Rohit, meanwhile, contributed 41 off 32 versus Delhi before falling for 10 against Rajasthan.