Hardik Pandya stays in Mumbai while the rest of the Mumbai Indians (MI) squad travels to Dharamshala to face the Punjab Kings (PBKS) for the next IPL 2026 clash. Hardik Pandya, the designated skipper of MI, shared a video as his Instagram story late on Tuesday night.
The video shows Hardik Pandya’s solo batting practice in the nets with the support of the throwdown specialists and net bowlers. As he did not travel with the team to Dharamshala, it is unclear whether he will travel there ahead of the match on May 14.
🔴 IS HARDIK PANDYA DROP FROM MUMBAI INDIANS TEAM? 🤯
- Hardik latest insta Story in which he practice & fully fit, but report say Hardik suffer from back injury 🙄
First Unfollow Suryakumar & Tilak Verma now this 🤦
SOMETHING BIG HAPPEN WITH HARDIK IN MI TEAM 🤨 pic.twitter.com/pUOgppuhZI— Sam (@Cricsam01) May 13, 2026
Hardik Pandya missed a couple of matches because of a back problem
Pandya missed a couple of games because of a back spasm, and could miss the Punjab Kings match as well. He missed the MI’s previous game, which was against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, but traveled late in Raipur to support Mumbai. So, he could miss the PBKS vs MI match, but it will be too early to predict his presence at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium.
Mumbai Indians is among the teams that have been eliminated early from the title race in IPL 2026. MI is currently situated at the 9th position of the 10-team points table with only 6 points in the game, which they have earned from 3 wins, playing 11 games. As soon as the Royal Challengers Bengaluru claimed all the points from the May 10 fixture, MI were dismissed from the title contention.
Pandya is recovering from the injury
Along with the team’s performance, Hardik Pandya’s individual performance remains far from his best in the season, scoring 146 runs so far while managing only four wickets with the ball.
It is reported that the Mumbai Indians skipper is set to miss tomorrow’s match and is doubtful for the Kolkata Knight Riders match as well. According to a Cricbuzz report, Hardik's injury is currently being assessed by the support staff in Mumbai. In the absence of the regular skipper, Suryakumar Yadav took the field as the stand-in skipper and is expected to do the same against Punjab as well.
Latest updates on Suryakumar Yadav
Like Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav was also not part of the touring team. According to the latest updates, the Team India captain is likely to join the team ahead of the match in Dharamsala. Yadav will arrive late, not because of any fitness-related issues, but for personal responsibilities. Yadav and his wife, Devisha Shetty, welcomed their first child, a baby girl named Riddhima, on May 7, 2026.
Mahela Jayawardene, the head coach of the Mumbai Indians, was furious after the team’s match against RCB in Raipur. In the low-scoring contest, RCB managed to claim the win in the final ball of the match and knocked MI out of the tournament.
“Yeah, I mean, the season, it's disappointing. We've had our opportunities. We were not good enough. We were not consistent enough with the ball, with the bat, and that showed the margins,” Mahela Jayawardene said after the match.
Read More: Hardik Pandya injury update: MI captain officially ruled out of PBKS clash in IPL 2026
