Mumbai Indians have suffered a significant blow as Rohit Sharma is set to miss at least a couple of matches after sustaining a hamstring injury in the previous game against RCB. The five-time champions have made two changes to their playing XI against Punjab Kings (PBKS), with Quinton de Kock replacing the Hitman and Mayank Rawat replacing an unwell Mitchell Santner. PBKS have won the toss and have opted to bowl against MI at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.
Mumbai Indians playing XI vs PBKS
Quinton de Kock(w), Ryan Rickelton, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya(c), Sherfane Rutherford, Naman Dhir, Mayank Rawat, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah
Impact subs: AM Ghazanfar, Corbin Bosch, Raj Bawa, Robin Minz, Ashwani Kumar
Rohit suffered a hamstring injury during the run chase against RCB in the previous game. He was attended to by the team’s physio before the start of the 5th over and was then forced to retire himself out a couple of deliveries later as he struggled with his hamstring. Subsequently, the Hitman underwent scans. While reports claimed that there was no evidence of any tear in his hamstring as seen in the scans, Sharma refrained from batting in the nets on Wednesday. Further, his absence for the next two games was confirmed by captain Hardik Pandya at the toss.
“Yeah, Rohit is out from the last game. He’s gonna take a couple of games for him to see how exactly where he is. And Mitchell is unwell as well. So Mitchell Santner also is not available. So, yeah, we got a couple of changes,” Hardik Pandya said at the toss.
In his absence, de Kock will make his comeback to the MI line-up after being bought for Rs 1 crore at the IPL 2026 mini-auction. He was a part of MI from 2019 to 2021 before he was released and played for other franchises. He will partner with fellow Proteas batter Ryan Rickleton to open the innings for MI in the game against Punjab Kings, marking his maiden outing in IPL 2026.
Meanwhile, Mitchell Santner is unwell and has been replaced by debutant Mayank Rawat in the game against PBKS. Rawat, who hails from Delhi, was bought by MI for Rs 30 lakhs in the mini-auction. He is a right-arm off-break bowler who will bolster the team’s spin unit.
Meanwhile, PBKS has gone with an unchanged playing XI for the game against Mumbai Indians.
PBKS playing XI vs MI
Prabhsimran Singh(w), Priyansh Arya, Shreyas Iyer(c), Cooper Connolly, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal
Impact Subs: Nehal Wadhera, Vishnu Vinod, Harpreet Brar, Suryansh Shedge, Yash Thakur
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