Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya missed out on playing MI’s IPL 2026 clash against Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on April 4 due to sickness. In his absence, India’s T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav led the team with Deepak Chahar coming in for him in a host of changes MI made in Delhi.ย
Stand-in skipper Surya revealed that Hardik was “not well and that he “doesn’t look good, so he was not fit for today’s game” at the toss during the Delhi clash. In that game, MI missed the middle-order firepower that Hardik is accustomed to giving, as they ended up making 162/6 on what was a two-paced pitch. MI went on to lose by six wickets.
Will Hardik return for MI’s next clash?
Mumbai Indians are set to face Rajasthan Royals in their next IPL clash in Guwahati on Tuesday, April 7 in what is a top-of-the-table-clash in the tournament. There are good signs for MI as Hardik has begun training with MI in Guwahati and could be in line to play in his team’s third IPL outing of the season.
As per ESPNCricinfo, Hardik looked in ‘fine spirits’ while training with the team. He began his session with a warm up before bowling in an empty net and delivering his yorkers. The all-rounder then took the bat in his hand for a batting stint under batting coach Kieron Pollard’s supervision. He was timing the ball pretty well in what sounds like good signs for MI.
MI win KKR opener, lose to DC
MI won their IPL 2026 opener against Kolkata Knight Riders after chasing down 221 in the final over. Ryan Rickelton and Rohit Sharma killed the chase with their counterattacking 148-run stand in just 11.5 overs.ย
However, MI were found wanting on what was a two-paced surface in Delhi. They ended up making 162 against DC with interim skipper Suryakumar scoring 51 off 36 balls. Sameer Rizvi, who won the opener for DC against LSG, put up another batting masterclass against MI as he scored 90 off 51 deliveries to take his team home in the 19th over with six wickets in hand.