“Don't want to put too much pressure on him” - Mark Boucher on Suryakumar Yadav’s poor form

Mumbai Indians (MI) head coach Mark Boucher is hopeful of struggling batter Suryakumar Yadav coming good at some point in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. Describing SKY as one of the world’s best T20 players, Boucher added that does not want to put too much pressure on the cricketer.

Suryakumar came into the IPL on the back of three consecutive golden ducks in the three-match ODI series against Australia at home. He has looked out of sorts in the first two matches for Mumbai Indians as well in the IPL.

After being dismissed for 15 in the game against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), the right-handed batter managed only one against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the match at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday, April 8. Speaking at the post-match press conference, Boucher opened up on Suryakumar’s struggles. He opined:

"Surya is an extremely talented cricketer, one of the world's best T20 players, if not the best. He has not had the weight of runs of late but he is a fantastic player. Hope he can come good for us in the near future. 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 little patches where you struggle for form. He added, “We’ll back him and try set him some new challenges to get his mind off his own game if that’s what will help him to try get some good form going into the middle and end stages of the tournament.”

Suryakumar has been a key member of the Mumbai Indians franchise and has won many matches for the team with his superlative batting performances under pressure.

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“157 was not good enough on that wicket” - Mark Boucher

Reflecting on Mumbai’s second defeat in as many games, Boucher opined that the team did not put up enough runs on the board. According to the former South African keeper-batter, MI should have scored somewhere in the region of 190. Boucher said:

"(Ajinkya) Rahane played some good cricket shots but it was their bowling that hurt us at the end of the day. Look at our bowlers and their batters. We have not had enough runs on the board.

"In the game of T20 cricket, especially, now when we have impact players, we had seven batters today. For us to make 157 was not good enough on that wicket. We probably should have got 180-190.”

The MI coach also provided an update on Jofra Archer, who missed the game against CSK due to a niggle. Boucher stated:

"He picked up a little niggle. We have got a fantastic medical team. They are looking after him. He is a massive player. Hope he will be back soon.”

Mumbai Indians will next take on Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Tuesday, April 11.