Hardik Pandya missed the last couple of games in the ongoing IPL 2026 due to a back spasm. He was slated to feature in the contest against RCB, but the comeback did not happen, as the Mumbai Indians’ medical team did not clear him to take part in that contest. However, there were reports that Hardik may be available for the encounter against Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the HPCA Stadium, Dharamshala, for Match 58.
PBKS vs MI: Toss Update
As the captains of both the teams walked out for a toss, Shreyas Iyer was the host skipper leading PBKS, but MI had a fresh face as their leader, with Suryakumar Yadav also out of the match. In Hardik and Suryakumar’s absence, ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah has been given the duty to lead the franchise, who are already eliminated from the race for the playoffs.
As Iyer gave the coin a flip, Bumrah eventually called it correctly at the toss, meaning that the toss went in favour of the visiting side, who, in turn, opted to bowl first.
PBKS vs MI: Why is Hardik still unavailable?
It is understood that Hardik continues to recover from his back injury and will return to the field only when the medical team deems him fully fit and available to hit the ground running. AM Ghazanfar also missed out for Mumbai, while Punjab made three changes to their lineup, bringing in the likes of Xavier Bartlett, Azmatullah Omarzai, and Harpreet Brar.
PBKS vs MI: What did the captains say?
Jasprit Bumrah, Mumbai Indians captain,
“We have decided to bowl first. We saw the last game and felt maybe with the cold weather coming down the wicket will settle down. I didn’t think that I will be a Test captain before becoming MI captain (smiles). As much as we can, we can three games left and we want to enjoy and maybe ruffle a few teams. Surya is not here for personal reasons and Allah is not there as well.”
Shreyas Iyer, Punjab Kings captain,
“We would have bowled first as well. The wicket looks a bit drier. Still don’t know how the pitch will play so just being positive about it. We should stop thinking about what has gone wrong. We have to think about being in good shape and having a positive mindset. Harpreet Brar, Xavier Bartlett and Azmatullah Omarzai come in.”
PBKS vs MI: Playing XIs
Punjab Kings
Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Priyansh Arya, Shreyas Iyer (capt), Cooper Connolly, Shashank Singh, Suryansh Shedge, Azmatullah Omarzai, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal
Impact Substitutes: Vijaykumar Vyshak, Harpreet Brar, Mitchell Owen, Vishnu Vinod, Pravin Dubey
Mumbai Indians
Ryan Rickelton (wk), Naman Dhir, Sherfane Rutherford, Tilak Varma, Will Jacks, Raj Bawa, Corbin Bosch, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Raghu Sharma
Impact Substitutes: Rohit Sharma, Mayank Rawat, Robin Minz, Krish Bhagat, Trent Boult
