Star Mumbai Indians (MI) batter Suryakumar Yadav missed another IPL game for his team when the five-time champions hosted the Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Monday (April 1). The fact is that SKY (nickname of Suryakumar) is currently in rehab at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru.


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Last time Surya was on a cricket field was when he played the third T20I against South Africa in Johannesburg on December 14 in 2023. He injured his ankle in that game after scoring a hundred for Team India.


Ahead of his side's clash against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Monday, Mumbai Indians (MI) spinner Piyush Chawla said that they have to focus on their cricket and ignore the "outside noise".


Currently, MI is standing at the bottom of the standings after losing two consecutive matches at the beginning of the season. Their first two defeats came against the Gujarat Titans (GT) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).


Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Chawla said that the home crowd will play a big role in the upcoming match. He also asked the 'loyal' MI fans to come and support them.


"We have to ignore the outside noise and just focus on our cricket. Indeed, at times, the crowd plays a big role and the loyal MI fans will come and support us," Chawla was quoted by MI's website as saying. (IPL 2024: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) vs Rajasthan Royals (RR) Match To Be Relocated Or Rescheduled - Report)


The 35-year-old spinner added that if the Mumbai-based franchise loses a few early wickets, then they have extra batters in the end to help them.


"We have seen that last year as well, that when the team scores 200-plus runs, it gives the batters the freedom to play freely. Even if the team loses wickets, they have some extra batters and that makes it difficult for the bowlers," he added.


Mumbai Indians Squad: Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan (Wk), Naman Dhir, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (C), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Shams Mulani, Gerald Coetzee, Piyush Chawla, Jasprit Bumrah, Kwena Maphaka, Mohammad Nabi, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Gopal, Luke Wood, Vishnu Vinod, Arjun Tendulkar, Nehal Wadhera, Kumar Kartikeya, Shivalik Sharma, Anshul Kamboj, Akash Madhwal, Nuwan Thushara, Dewald Brevis.


Rajasthan Royals Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson (Wk/C), Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, Sandeep Sharma, Avesh Khan, Nandre Burger, Navdeep Saini, Keshav Maharaj, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Rovman Powell, Tanush Kotian, Kuldeep Sen, Donovan Ferreira, Abid Mushtaq, Shubham Dubey, Kunal Singh Rathore.