[Watch] Suryakumar Yadav all geared up for RCB vs MI in IPL 2023

Mumbai Indians (MI) batter Suryakumar Yadav is all geared up for their opening game against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday, April 2.

In a video uploaded to MI’s official Twitter handle, Yadav said:

“It’s a great feeling and really looking forward to this season. It’s the same feeling I feel whenever I come here and practice. Feels good. I mean to come back here [Wankhede Stadium] and have a hit.”

For the uninitiated, Yadav was retained by the Mumbai-based franchise for Rs 8 crore ahead of IPL 2023. The right-hander will look to forget his horrific run in the three-match ODI series (three consecutive Golden Ducks) against Australia and start afresh.

Yadav scored 303 runs in eight IPL games at a strike rate of 145.67, including three fifties, last year. He will be critical to MI’s success as they chase their sixth IPL trophy. Overall, he has amassed 2644 runs in 123 IPL games at a strike rate of 136.78, which includes 16 half-centuries.

Suryakumar Yadav to be stand-in MI captain in Rohit Sharma’s absence - Reports

Suryakumar Yadav will be the stand-in MI captain in Rohit Sharma’s absence during IPL 2023. The regular skipper will reportedly be rested for workload management ahead of the 2023 ODI World Cup.

In a press conference on Wednesday, head coach Mark Boucher said:

If I can get the best out of him (Rohit Sharma) as a captain and as a player, it'll be great. If it means that he's going to rest one or two games, then I'll do that, absolutely. Not a problem."

Earlier, in a press conference after the ODI series against Australia, Sharma stressed:

“It's all up to the franchises. The franchises own them [the players] now, so we've given some indications or some kind of borderline kind of thing to the teams. But at the end of the day, it's up to the franchise and, most importantly it's the players you know, they have to take care of their own body.”

However, Sanjay Manjrekar didn’t like the idea of workload management. The cricketer-turned-commentator stated:

“There should be no restrictions on players in IPL. Owners spend money on them and they should have the freedom to use a player as much as they want. IPL should be given a special status in that regard."

MI squad for IPL 2023

Cameron Green, Jhye Richardson, Piyush Chawla, Duan Jansen, Vishnu Vinod, Shams Mulani, Mehal Wadhera, Raghav Goyal, Rohit Sharma (c), Tim David, Ramandeep Singh, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, Jofra Archer, Jasprit Bumrah (unfit), Arjun Tendulkar, Arshad Khan, Kumar Kartikeya, Hrithik Shokeen, Jason Behrendorff, Akash Madhwal.