"I am going with SKY" - Aakash Chopra picks Suryakumar Yadav among Mumbai Indians players in focus in IPL 2024 clash vs Punjab Kings

Aakash Chopra has chosen Suryakumar Yadav among three Mumbai Indians (MI) players in focus in their IPL 2024 clash against the Punjab Kings (PBKS).

The two sides will square off in Mullanpur on Thursday, April 18. MI, who are placed ninth on the points table with four points from six games, will want to get back to winning ways to give themselves a decent chance of qualifying for the playoffs.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra picked Suryakumar as the first Mumbai Indians player to watch out for in Thursday's game.

"Rohit (Sharma) scored a century in the last match. Ishan Kishan is playing very well. I am going with SKY because zero, fifty and zero thus far. If we see that pattern, he will score a fifty now. So I am going towards Suryakumar Yadav as my No. 1 player to watch out for," he reasoned (7:35).

"There is a little movement with the new ball here. So they might lose one or two early wickets but then you start focusing on Suryakumar Yadav to see how he performs. Him doing well is also good because then you don't need batting till (Mohammad) Nabi," the former India opener added.

Suryakumar has aggregated 52 runs at an outstanding strike rate of 226.08 in three innings in IPL 2024. He smoked a 19-ball 52 against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) but has been dismissed for ducks in his other two hits.

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"There will be pressure on him" - Aakash Chopra on Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya has not been at his best with both bat and ball in IPL 2024. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra named Hardik Pandya as the second Mumbai Indians player in focus against the Punjab Kings.

"I am thinking about Hardik Pandya as my second player because reports are coming that Hardik Pandya's selection for the T20 World Cup is not confirmed. It's also being said that he will have to bowl. If he is not bowling and batting form is not that good, you might want to look elsewhere. If you see from that viewpoint, there will be pressure on him," he explained (8:15).

"You need to score runs. To be fair, in the last match as well, Rohit Sharma was at one end, and he (Hardik) was playing at one point where Shardul Thakur and Tushar Deshpande got away by bowling two overs. That cannot happen. You are the captain of a team that has the ability to hit from start to end. So maybe it's time for Hardik to stand up and deliver," the cricketer-turned-commentator added.

Chopra noted that Jasprit Bumrah is invariably one of the Mumbai Indians players in focus in every game.

"The third, even if I don't say, you should put Bumrah's name because he is Bumrah. How can you not focus on him? New ball or the old ball, in the middle, at the end or the start, against left-handers or right-handers, against strikers or anchors, he is absolutely unstoppable. So I going towards Jasprit Bumrah one more time," he said.

Bumrah is the Mumbai Indians' highest wicket-taker in IPL 2024. He has picked up 10 wickets in six games at an exceptional economy rate of 6.08.