CHENNAI: India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav has been a shadow of his past self in the IPL so far. Against Chennai Super Kings, the Mumbai Indians batter fell for just 21 runs and once again failed to convert his good start. He has managed just 183 runs in nine outings this season, at an average of 20.33.
Before the Chennai game, Yadav had admitted that things were not going smooth for his team and that he wanted to contribute. "I always think that whenever I go inside to bat, there is a comfort for the dugout that as long as I am standing there, everything will go fine. But that has not happened. But I am doing the same hard work which is in my hands - trying to do the things which are in my control, like practising well, doing all the right things from night sleep to morning routine, everything. But at the end of the day, when it is written in your destiny, it happens only then. And I am also thinking when it is written, when it will come. Hopefully it starts from Saturday," Surya had said, but nothing went right for his team or himself.
However, head coach Mahela Jayawardene still backs Suryakumar and believes that the ace batter will bounce back. "I don't think his output is down, if he gets a few scores together I think he'll find that rhythm. He played really well today (Saturday) for that period, really took on the bowlers in that phase. I think another couple of overs he could have been off for a really good score," said Jayawardene after the match on Saturday night.
Suryakumar hit three fours and one six in short stay before falling to Ramakrishna Ghosh. "Sometimes when things are not going your way it doesn't fall in place; I think it was a pretty good shot but went straight to the fielder. He's definitely up for it, I think he's in a good space, it just hasn't worked like the amount of times he's got caught on the boundary this season with some of those shots. It's just a matter of time, but I think he himself is disappointed but just has to keep on working harder," pointed out the former Sri Lanka captain.
Bowling has been one of Mumbai's biggest problems this season with ace fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah not bowling at his best. But Jayawardene does not want to put the blame on Bumrah and insists that as a bowling unit they need to improve. "It's not just Bumrah, it's a collective effort from all the bowlers. When everyone's working together and you're picking up wickets here and there, that helps Bumrah to be a bit more aggressive as well rather than doing a holding job. Everyone tends to have a slow season, but class is always permanent," said Jayawardene. "We have still got five more games, anything could happen to us, we just need to finish the tournament positively and see what happens. There is a lot of cricket to be played, I don't think mathematically we are out. I am going to fight, and I am sure the rest of the boys will do the same," he added.