Suryakumar Yadav may be battling with his form in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 but he won Mumbai Indians (MI) in-house dressing room ‘Player of the Match’ award for refusing to give up after taking a serious blow to the forehead above his eye on April 11.
The incident took place in the 17th over when Suryakumar misjudged a catch at long-on and the ball hit him right above the left eye. He did not just drop Axar Patel’s catch but was taken off the field for medical attention. He did not come out to field for the rest of innings.
“If I can just say something about this particular award. So he did get hit on the field he came in and his eye was starting to swell. He had to put ice in there. And I came in thinking okay well maybe we move him down the order.”
“He meets me in the bathroom and says to me, “Coach, I actually want to bat fourth,” revealed Boucher.
Suryakumar was surprised to receive the award in the dressing room and thanked everyone. Batting at no.4, Suryakumar could not make an impact in the runchase and got out for a golden duck. Suryakumar flicked one towards deep fine leg and got caught.
While Suryakumar has not lived up to expectations after three consecutive golden ducks in the ODI series against Australia, Boucher lauded Suryakumar's will to contribute to the team in tough situations.
“So, for me that’s not shying away from anything. These are the types of characters that you want in the dressing room. When times are tough, they are not scared to hide in the back of the changing room, they want to get out there and perform,” the 32-year-old said.
MI had a few hiccups in death overs after skipper Rohit Sharma's wicket but pulled off a last-ball win. Tim David and Cameron Green held on to their nerves against Anrich Nortje who bowled fiery yorkers in an attempt to defend five runs in the last over. This was MI’s first win of the season. They will take on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their next clash on April 16 at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
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