CHENNAI: May seems to be the month of irrelevant clasicos. While Barcelona and Real Madrid, protagonists of the original, will play next Sunday at the Camp Nou and the Catalan giants have all but concluded their La Liga campaign, the Indian version at the MAC this Saturday may also be of academic interest only.chennai super kings and mumbai indians Three and four wins away from the top four, these underperforming Giants will need a miracle to make the playoffs.While the team may not have much to play for other than glory, there is considerable stakes for the players. The most important thing is Suryakumar YadavIndia’s T20 World Cup winning captain. Although he was praised for his role as captain, there is no doubt that his performance at the World Cup was poor, scoring only 157 points in seven games, 84 of which came in the first game against the United States.After the World Cup, Surya spoke of his ambitions to lead the team to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. But his performance in the IPL looked far different.
The 35-year-old is having one of his worst IPL seasons since 2021, when he completed 317 matches at an average of 22.64. This year, the team needs senior professional players to step up and deliver, but “SKY” has faltered time and time again, plunging MI into an abyss. The 162 runs he scored in eight games were too few, especially when the batsman batted at No. 3 or 4.Mumbai Indians Head Coach Mahela JayewardeneHowever, he jumped to his players’ defense before Friday’s practice. “In training, he was batting as well as anyone. Even in matches, he was batting well, but the way he got out a couple of times was very unfortunate. There were a couple of times when he bowled some good balls as well,” Jayawardene said, adding that he had gone through similar situations as a batsman.
The coach insisted that Surya needs to “continue to believe in his thought process and ability. He is that type of player; very unorthodox. We just keep encouraging him. He has had three or four great years and a run like this can happen. He will still smile and play the way he knows how,” the coach added.But Surya knows that Shreyas Iyer, who has had a stellar season with Kings XI Punjab, can be a contender not only for the India berth but for the throne as well. That adds to the pressure, and in this case, an injured CSK on a black clay pitch in the MAC with thousands of people yelling at you, it’s not an easy thing to do. But the right-hander has endured adversity in his long career and all his fans are hoping that this ‘El Clasico’ will mark the beginning of a comeback journey for the brilliant T20 player.
