The Mumbai Indians (MI) endured their first loss of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 as they failed to defend against the Delhi Capitals (DC). The loss had a couple of takeaways for the five-time champions, including the fact that Hardik Pandya is virtually irreplaceable in the side. The Mumbai Indians (MI) had to sit out from the DC vs MI game as he wasn’t well. MI missed Pandya dearly as the bowlers didn’t put up a great show, while the batting saw runs from just a couple of individuals.
Thankfully, Pandya will not miss more games for the side, as he is touted to play Mumbai’s next game, which will be against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Guwahati on April 7. As per the Times of India, Pandya didn’t have any injury concern but didn’t play against Delhi due to viral. In his place, Suryakumar Yadav led MI and also notched up a stylish fifty.
Hardik Pandya in focus as Mumbai Indians fly Guwahati
Hardik Pandya has been in the news recently. After winning the T20 World Cup 2026, he has already set his sights at the 2027 ODI World Cup. He has a long-term vision of being fit enough to bowl 10 overs consistently. The selectors want Pandya to be the fittest version of himself and he has been managing his workload likewise.
Him missing the game against Delhi was just a common viral incident and MI didn’t want to take any risks as well with their captain. Pandya has now travelled with the team to Guwahati as well, where they will take on the unbeaten RR side. It will be a fascinating fixture, considering Rajasthan are playing well. Mumbai’s bowling will be tested against the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Dhruv Jurel.
Predicted Playing XII for MI against RR
- Rohit Sharma
- Ryan Rickelton (wk)
- Suryakumar Yadav
- Tilak Varma
- Hardik Pandya
- Sherfane Rutherford
- Naman Dhir
- Mitchell Santner
- Shardul Thakur
- Deepak Chahar
- Jasprit Bumrah
- Trent Boult
