IPL 2023: “Don’t want to put much pressure on him”- MI coach Mark Boucher on under-firing Suryakumar Yadav

MI will next clash with Delhi Capitals in Delhi on April 11.

Mumbai Indians (MI) suffered their second consecutive defeat in the IPL 2023, as they lost by 7 wickets to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in their first home game at Wankhede Stadium on April 8.

Mumbai Indians were put into bat by CSK captain MS Dhoni, who had won the toss. Despite a decent start from Ishan Kishan (32) and skipper Rohit Sharma (21), MI couldn’t sustain the momentum through the innings.

Tilak Varma made 22 and Tim David hammered 31 in 22 balls as MI mustered 157/8 in 20 overs.

For CSK, Ravindra Jadeja picked 3/20, while Mitchell Santner and Tushar Deshpande took two wickets.

In reply, MI bowlers started well as Jason Behrendorff removed Devon Conway for a duck. But then they encountered Ajinkya Rahane, who went on a rampage scoring a 19-ball fifty and finishing with 61 in 27 balls with 7 fours and 3 sixes.

Ruturaj Gaikwad with 40*, Shivam Dube with 28, and Ambati Rayudu with 20* ensured that the CSK won the match with seven wickets in the hand and 11 balls to spare.

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After the match, MI coach Mark Boucher blamed the “batting collapse” after the powerplay for the under-par total and the loss.  

“We got up to a good start in the powerplay. We just had a batting collapse. I think a couple of unlucky dismissals, and some good catches, and after that, we couldn’t build any partnership, which probably cost us about 30-40 runs in the backend.

It was pretty similar to the first game, just in different phases of the innings. I thought we fought well till the end with the ball. I just don’t think we had enough runs to put in any scoreboard pressure on CSK,” said Boucher in the post-match press conference.

Another question that came Boucher’s way was the poor form of Suryakumar Yadav, the vice-captain of the MI team. Ever since February, his scores across formats have been 24, 8, 0, 0, 0, 15, and 1.

After the infamous three golden ducks in the Australia ODIs, it is expected that Suryakumar will bounce back in the IPL 2023, but it has yet to happen. Boucher hoped that Surya will find his grove soon and doesn’t want to put unnecessary pressure on the batter.

“Surya is an extremely talented cricketer and one of the world’s best T20 players if not the best. He hasn’t scored runs of late, but he is a fantastic player and hopefully, he can come to some good forms for us shortly.

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I don’t want to put too much pressure on him. We all know what he can do, that’s just the game of cricket. Sometimes you go through the little patch where you struggle for form. We will back him up and try setting him some new challenges to get the mind of his own game.

He was unlucky with his dismissal as well, that ball probably should have gone for a boundary but it managed to find the gloves,” he said.

On the seriousness of Jofra Archer’s injury, the MI coach said the pacer might miss a few matches.

“He has put up a little niggle. We have a fantastic medical team that is looking after him and he is a massive player for us. Hopefully, they can pass him fit and up for selection soon,” he said.

The MI coach also hoped that Cameron Green will come well, despite his somber outings in IPL thus far.

“He is a fantastic cricketer. Green is best suited to probably bat up the order. He is a strong hitter of the ball. It has been only two innings but I liked the intent he had shown when he went on to the bat. With the ball, we are looking to use him with the new ball. He is a very valuable player for us,” Boucher added.

MI will now travel to Delhi to face Delhi Capitals (DC) on April 11.

(The Indian Express inputs)