Rohit Sharma could not be spotted with the Mumbai Indians team that reached Alibaug for a pre-season team bonding exercise ahead of the start of IPL 2024.
Ahead of the start of the 2024 Indian Premier League 2024, players of the Mumbai Indians spent some quality time as part of a team bonding exercise. The cricketers, along with the support staff, reached Alibaug on Tuesday, where they are expected to spend the next couple of days before returning to Mumbai, from where they will take a flight to Ahmedabad to play the first match of the season against 2022 champions Gujarat Titans.
Hardik Pandya and Ishan Kishan on reaching Alibaug. (Hindustan Times via special arrangement)
But while almost everyone from the MI camp took the ferry to Alibaug, there was one individual missing from the list, and that is former captain Rohit Sharma. In videos provided to Hindustan Times via special arrangement, Rohit wasn’t spotted even as the rest of his teammates deboarded the ferry on the dock, and was also nowhere to be seen as everyone checked into the hotel, at least not in the clips.
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While Rohit may or may not have been present, the videos show he may not have travelled with the team. In one of the clips, the ferry is seen taking off from the Mumbai harbour with the iconic Gateway of India in the backdrop, and by the looks of it, Rohit wasn’t present. Another notable absentee from the group of players was Jasprit Bumrah, but then again, there is a possibility that he is yet to link up with the team following the gruelling Test series against England. Tilak Varma and Dewald Brevis were not part of the ferry ride either, and going by MI’s social media activity on X, the batting duo, who are also close buddies, were sweating it out in the nets, matching each other shot for shot.
Watch MI arrive in Alibaug (Videos belong exclusively to HT):
Among the prominent figures present were captain Hardik Pandya, wicketkeeper batter Ishan Kishan, Australia big-hitter Tim David, West Indian quick Romario Shepherd, Arjun Tendulkar, and Afghanistan’s Mohammad Nabi. Coach Mark Boucher accompanied Hardik and his team, along with bowling coach Lasith Malinga and batting coach Kieron Pollard. Upon arrival, the players took some rest, chilled out and engaged in a game of paintball.
Rohit joined the team a couple of days back at the Wankhede where he underwent his first batting drill. The ex-captain shared pictures of the same while batting in the nets, including one pic in black and white, but didn’t add a caption to it. Rohit looked in tremendous touch, playing his trademark pull shot along with some mesmerising drives and cuts.
No Suryakumar Yadav thus far
Suryakumar Yadav was evidently absent from the group as the star T20 batter still awaits his fitness clearance from the NCA. In December, SKY twisted his ankle while fielding in the third T20I between India and South Africa, and has been out of action ever since. Surya had to undergo back-to-back surgery – for ankle in December and then one on his groin in January which had aggravated over time. But as it turns out, the recovery could take a little longer than expected.
To express his disappointment, Surya posted a ‘heartbreak’ emoji on his Instagram story on Tuesday, leading to a social media meltdown. Still, all is not over for Suryakumar as he is set to undergo another medical evaluation on Thursday, March 22. While he is all but ruled out of MI’s opening game against Titans on Sunday, there is a belief that he may recover in time for the game against Sunrisers Hyderabad on March 27.
“We are awaiting updates on Suryakumar from the BCCI. We have always been under a cloud of fitness issues but we have a world-class medical team. We may lose one or two in terms of fitness but we have to move on. As the coach of Mumbai Indians, I am going to be a little bit biased and hope to see my best players in all the games. I have a soft spot for my players and I do understand that they might have niggles and that’s when I will fall back on my medical team and work with them accordingly,” Boucher had said addressing SKY’s status on Monday.
