Mumbai Indians players were spotted wearing black armbands in their IPL 2026 clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Wankhede Stadium. The gesture comes in response to a personal tragedy within the franchiseโs extended family, after a support staff member lost their daughter.
The decision was formally communicated by the team management ahead of the match. The symbolic tribute reflects solidarity within the camp and honours the departed soul.
“Due to the untimely demise of our support staff member’s daughter, Mumbai Indians players will wear black armbands today, in remembrance and solidarity with the familyโ MIโs statement read.ย
Openers shine, Suryakumar flops again
Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and elected to bat first. The hosts made multiple changes to the playing XI, as Ryan Rickelton replaced the injured Quinton de Kock. Will Jacks has been named as well, who replaced the Sherfane Rutherford. On the other hand, Trent Boult came in place of the injured Mitchell Santner. Apart from that, Danish Malewar and Krish Bhagat have been dropped as well.ย ย
The changes made an immediate impact as Rickelton and Jacks handed Mumbai a cracking start. They smacked 78 runs in the powerplay and overall stitched a 93-run stand, before Jacks departed for 46 runs off 22 balls. His opening partner, Rickleton, completed his half-century and is going strong in the middle.
Veteran batter Suryakumar Yadav, in the meantime, flopped yet again. He made five runs off five balls before Ehsan Malinga got the better of him. His poor form is heavily concerning at the moment and Mumbai might even consider dropping him from the playing XI once Rohit Sharma returns to the squad.ย
Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan (wk), Heinrich Klaasen, Salil Arora, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Pat Cummins (c), Harsh Dubey, Sakib Hussain, Praful Hinge, Eshan Malinga
Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Ryan Rickelton (wk), Will Jacks, Naman Dhir, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (c), Robin Minz, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, AM Ghazanfar, Ashwani Kumar
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