Ahead of the IPL 2024 opener, on Friday (March 22), Mumbai Indians (MI) have suffered a huge blow as Suryakumar Yadav is set to miss his side's opening game.

The Mumbai batter has not received clearance from the National Cricket Academy (NCA) to participate in the upcoming T20 league. It is to be noted that Surya underwent a fitness assessment at the NCA, in Bengaluru, on Tuesday (March 19). However, the NCA management is understood to have withheld clearance, preventing the swasbuckling batter from being linked with the MI franchise. Surya suffered an ankle injury during India's T20I series versus South Africa in late 2023. In January, he even underwent a groin surgery and hasn't played any competitive cricket since. With the NCA clearance still pending, it has effectively led to Surya's omission from MI's opening game. The five-time winners will open their campaign versus Hardik's previous franchise Gujarat Titans (GT) on March 24 in Ahmedabad.

SKY - An integral part of MI

Since 2018, when he rejoined the MI franchise, Surya has been a force to reckon with in the IPL. He has amassed 2,641 runs (scoring 81.28 % of his total runs in IPL -- 3,249) in the last six seasons. The MI management will, thus, closely monitor his recovery and hope for him to join the franchise soon. 'I know he is...': MI skipper Hardik says he won't feel 'awkward' in leading India captain Rohit in IPL 2024 The five-time winners Mumbai will embark upon a new era in IPL 2024 under recently-appointed captain Hardik. After rejoining the franchise, during the trade window ahead of last year's mini-auction, the all-rounder was named the captain in December 2023, replacing Rohit Sharma. He has a stern task to fill in the big shoes of Rohit, under whom MI have won all their five titles (since 2013). The IPL 2024 season-opener will be held on Friday evening between defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Chennai. MI squad for IPL 2024: Rohit Sharma, Dewald Brevis, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, N. Tilak Varma, Tim David, Vishnu Vinod, Arjun Tendulkar, Shams Mulani, Nehal Wadhera, Jasprit Bumrah, Kumar Kartikeya, Piyush Chawla, Akash Madhwal, Jason Behrendorff, Romario Shepherd, Hardik Pandya (c), Gerald Coetzee, Dilshan Madushanka, Shreyas Gopal, Nuwan Thushara, Naman Dhir, Anshul Kamboj, Mohammad Nabi, Shivalik Sharma.