Doubts remain over the Mumbai Indians (MI) captain, Hardik Pandya. According to the latest claims, the MI skipper, who is still recovering from a back injury, is expected to miss the next fixture.
The Mumbai Indians are scheduled to take on Punjab Kings (PBKS) tomorrow, May 14, at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamshala. If the reports are to be believed, then Hardik could miss the match against PBKS.
Hardik Pandya is expected to miss the PBKS vs MI IPL 2026 clash
Because of the same injury reason, the seam bowling all-rounder missed a couple of matches already, which were against the Lucknow Super Giants and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, on May 4 and May 10, respectively. During the absence of Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav played as the stand-in skipper of MI. If Pandya remains available for the PBKS vs MI match, too, Yadav can lead the team.
Doubtful for the match vs KKR as well
Along with the PBKS match, Hardik Pandya is doubtful for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) match as well. The KKR vs MI match is scheduled to be held on May 20 at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
“Some #IPL news: Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya is still recuperating from a back niggle, and won't be available tomorrow. Next match in Kolkata is 50/50 chance,” Kushan Sarkar, a PTI journalist, claims on the social media platform ‘X’ today, May 13.
Some #IPL news: @mipaltan skipper Hardik Pandya is still recuperating from back niggle and wont be available tomorrow. Next match in Kolkata is 50/50 chance
— Kushan Sarkar (@kushansarkar) May 13, 2026
Mumbai Indians' dream for their sixth IPL title is over for this season, as they will have to take the exit gate soon after the conclusion of the group phase of the ongoing season. Their chances for IPL 2026 play-offs faded away right after their defeat against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in their previous match. In this match, Suryakumar Yadav was the stand-in skipper.
The Mumbai Indians suggested sacking Hardik
It is noted that Hardik Pandya has missed multiple matches in the season because of a back injury and illness. As of now, the Mumbai Indians are currently ranked 9th in the 10-team league. After playing 11 matches, they have managed to claim only 6 points from 3 wins and have gone down under in the remaining 8 matches. Because of the repeated failures, some of the cricket experts believe that the MI franchise will have to take a final call on their current skipper, who is Hardik.
While talking with Sportstar, former Team India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar directly stated that the franchise should sack Hardik from the leadership role and should appoint Jasprit Bumrah as their next leader.
“I think they (Mumbai Indians) might have to look beyond Hardik Pandya. Yeah, because that move certainly hasn't worked. It's not fair to Hardik as well. It's like a package deal. You know, if Hardik was going to come to Mumbai, then they should have gotten Ashish Nehra as well with him. But Ashish won't be with him,” Sanjay Manjrekar stated.
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