The 2024 edition of the IPL will see most of the Indian players, who have been recovering from their respective injuries return to playing competitive cricket including the likes of KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya. There's India's T20 superstar Suryakumar Yadav as well, who underwent groin surgery for a sports hernia nearly two months ago and is also set to return, however, his return like Rishabh Pant might not be as immediate as the others.
Surya is currently undergoing rehab at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) and looks like he is slowly achieving full fitness. However, if his social media handle and the videos on it are concerned, he has been doing a lot of strength and conditioning exercises but hasn't started skill training, batting practice just yet. Hence, there is no confirmation yet if he will play the tournament for the Mumbai Indians from the start or not.
"Surya's rehabilitation is on track and he will certainly 'Return to Play' in the IPL itself. However it is still not clear whether the NCA's Sports Science and Medical Team will give clearance to play in the first two away games against Gujarat Titans and Sunrisers Hyderabad," a BCCI source was quoted as saying to PTI.
Mumbai Indians will open their campaign on Sunday, March 24 against the Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad at the Narendra Modi Stadium, followed by another away game against the Sunrisers Hyderabad and as per the source, Surya's participation could be doubtful in both.
"There are still 12 days to go before MI play their first game but it could be a race against time to get fit by the first match itself," the source added. Surya has been the backbone for MI in the last few years and even though they have backup in Vishnu Vinod, they'd want the No.1 T20 batter to be fit at the earliest.
