Speaking to media ahead of the IPL beginning March 31, Boucher said: "Surya is fine. You can't judge a guy's form based on how he is playing the first ball. I checked on him about how he is feeling, and he said, 'coach I am hitting the ball very well'. I said, 'cool'," Boucher said
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Mumbai Indians head coach and former South African great Mark Boucher on Wednesday said that a player cannot be judged on how he faces his first ball in a match. Boucher believes Suryakumar Yadav will get back amongst the runs in the IPL following a dreadful run in the recent ODI series against Australia. The stylish right-hander was out on the first ball in each of the three innings against Australia.
Speaking to media ahead of the IPL beginning March 31, Boucher said: "Surya is fine. You can't judge a guy's form based on how he is playing the first ball. I checked on him about how he is feeling, and he said, 'coach I am hitting the ball very well'. I said, 'cool'," Boucher said.
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"You can't say that a guy is out of form if a guy does not get past the first ball. Unfortunately, he has not been able to do that in the last three games. Hopefully, when he faces the first ball in the IPL, the whole crowd will cheer and he will be back to business.
"He's a great player and probably the best T20 player in the world for the moment," he added. Boucher said the absence of Jasprit Bumrah provides an opportunity for other bowlers to step up. "Our bowling attack is quite exciting. Losing Bumrah has been a big loss for us; I will be honest with that."
Boucher also feels the incessant talk over workload management is overrated in T20 cricket as the other two formats are more punishing on the body.
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However, considering the ODI World Cup at home later this year, the Indian players' workload will be monitored closely by the BCCI over the course of the IPL.
"It is amazing we are even talking about workload in T20 cricket. Probably about 10 or 15 years ago we would not be having this conversation. Workload is something, we have the science behind it, we have got trainers and we have got the guys who give us the data," said Boucher on Wednesday.
"There is a lot of talk about workload but if you look at our schedule, we have got quite a bit of rest in between. We can try and look after every player and I do not see workload being a major issue for us throughout the IPL. Sometimes media and people look too much into workload in T20 cricket.
"Test cricket and one-day cricket are tough on the body, T20 cricket is short. We should not be talking about workload in T20 cricket with all due respect," said the former South African wicketkeeper-batter. (With inputs from PTI)
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