'He needs to plan his game better on slow and turning pitches': Sunil Gavaskar's advice to Mumbai Indians' trump card

Five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) will square off against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 Eliminator match on May 24 (Wednesday) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

SportsTak

• Wed • 24 May 2023

Five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) will square off against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 Eliminator match on May 24 (Wednesday) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Rohit Sharma's men started the competition in a rather sedate manner but powered by an explosive batting line-up, the franchise squeezed into the playoffs. With the absence of Jaspriit Bumran, Jofra Archer and Jhye Richardson, MI's bowling attack has been tormented by opposing teams. But MI's batting line-up has inflicted the same misery in opposing teams' bowling attack. In the knockout game, MI will once again be dependent on its explosive batters.

Suryakumar Yadav has been the best batter for MI this season. The right-handed middle-order batter started the tournament slowly but caught fire mid-way and orchestrated multiple wins for the franchise. In a high-pressure game, Suryakumar will be the trump card for the Mumbai-based franchise once again.

Former India captain and legendary batter, Sunil Gavaskar offered advice to Suryakumar ahead of the Eliminator match. The cricketer-turned-pundit asked the MI batter to buy his time in the middle on a slow Chennai wicket before unleashing his full array of shots.

"SKY is outstanding. Look at the big stride he takes when it comes to playing such agricultural shots. However, he needs to plan his game better on slow and turning pitches. He's going to be crucial for MI in the playoff games. Remember, the first couple of playoff games are going to be played on a slow Chennai track," said Gavaskar on Star Sports.

The swashbuckling batter has scored 511 runs in 14 matches in the ongoing edition of the cash-rich tournament so far. He has batted with a strike rate of 185.14, which is the best out of the top 15 leading run-getters in the competition this year.