Suryakumar Yadav’s form is a funny thing, nice for him to get some runs against PBKS: MI head coach Mark Boucher

Mumbai Indians head coach Mark Boucher expressed his delight to see Suryakumar Yadav getting “some runs” against Punjab Kings in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023.

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The world no.1 T20I batter Suryakumar’s form saw a rare dip this year. The right-hander, who registered three ducks during the ODI series against Australia, could not move the Mumbai Indians’ scoreboard in his first three outings. He showed glimpses of regaining his mojo by hitting 43 against KKR before failing again in the following game against SRH.

However, Suryakumar once again lit up the Wankhede Stadium by scoring 57 off just 26 balls against Punjab Kings. Although Suryakumar’s fifty could not take MI over the line, Boucher stated that the batter will feel very comfortable after his knock on Saturday (April 22).

“It’s always nice for Suryakumar Yadav to get some runs. His form is a funny thing, as sometimes you judge it by the numbers,” Boucher said in the post-match press conference. “He’s been hitting the ball really well in the nets and it was just a matter of time before he translated that into runs. So, I’m very happy for him.

“He’ll feel very comfortable. For Mumbai Indians, having him in some good form, hitting the ball so sweetly and playing the sort of devastating innings he did tonight, bodes well for the future for us going forward.”

With Mumbai Indians needing 16 runs off the final over, PBKS fast bowler Arshdeep Singh turned out to be the stump breaker as he cleaned up Tilka Verma and Nehal Wadhera to hand PBKS a 13-run win over MI.

MI head coach Boucher added that his team was very close yet so far in the 215-run chase.

“I thought the game was in the balance. I thought we batted really well tonight. Maybe they did get too many runs which is disappointing. Because I think that, overall, if I look at the game, we had control for some percentage of the game, but let it slip towards the end of our bowling,” Boucher said.