Hardik Pandya has reportedly not travelled with the Mumbai Indians (MI) squad to Raipur ahead of their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Sunday, May 10. The MI skipper is now likely to miss the upcoming encounter, which means that Suryakumar Yadav may be seen captaining the franchise for the clash at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium.
For the unversed, Hardik has endured a back spasm, which did not allow him to feature for MI in the clash against the Lucknow Super Giants at the Wankhede Stadium on May 04. Suryakumar had led the side in the star all-rounder’s absence, as the five-time champions won an all-important match by a whopping six-wicket margin, chasing down the 229-run target against the Rishabh Pant-led side.
According to Cricbuzz, there hasn’t been any immediate indication of whether Pandya will be available for the next clash, with him having at least a couple of days’ time to get fit and hit the field to return to cricketing action. The dressing room is also not sure regarding the Choryasi-born’s availability, but there has been a hint that he will be in Raipur.
“I don’t know when he’s expected to be back. I only found out this afternoon that he had back spasms. So I’m not aware of the extent of it – I wouldn’t even call it an injury – or how serious it is or what he’s feeling. But I’m sure he’ll be back with the group as we head to Raipur this week,” MI’s Ryan Rickelton had said after the MI vs LSG game on Monday.
Notably, Pandya has had a terrible season for MI in 2026, scoring only 146 runs across eight matches at an underwhelming strike rate of 136.45. With the ball, the record is even worse, with the experienced campaigner picking up only four wickets. Hardik’s performance is a reflection of MI’s poor campaign this season, with only three wins after ten matches and a near elimination from playoffs being on the cards.
Speaking of MI’s qualification scenario, they have to win all of their four remaining matches to stay alive in the race for the playoffs. A slip-up here and there in the remainder of their league-stage games would eliminate them from the competition. If MI manage to win all of these four games, they will give themselves a chance to proceed further, given that all the stars align in place.
