Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya is not travelling with the Mumbai Indians (MI) squad to Raipur for the 54th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026.
According to a report in Cricbuzz, on Wednesday, May 6, Mumbai Indians (MI) players assembled at Terminal 1 of Mumbai airport to travel to Raipur for the match against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Sunday, May 10, and Hardik Pandya was not present there.
Key Points
- Hardik Pandya did not travel with the Mumbai Indians squad to Raipur ahead of the IPL 2026 clash against RCB.
- The MI captain had already missed the previous match against Lucknow Super Giants due to back spasms.
- There is still no official confirmation on Hardik Pandya’s availability for the RCB game.
Why did Hardik Pandya not travel with the Mumbai Indians for the RCB match in IPL 2026?
Hardik Pandya had missed his team's last match against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) due to a back spasm, and there is no update on his availability for the match against RCB.
Also, the Mumbai Indians (MI) have reportedly stated that there is nothing more to read about Hardik Pandya missing the last game, as he just had some fitness issues.
"There is no immediate indication that Pandya will join the team closer to the match but no one is still confirming it," the Cricbuzz report read.
Also Read: MS Dhoni fully fit for IPL 2026? CSK legend’s real situation finally revealed
"I didn't even know he had a back spasm" - MI player makes shocking claim
After Hardik Pandya had missed the game against LSG on May 4, the Mumbai Indians put up an emphatic six-wicket win by chasing down 229.
Ryan Rickelton, who was Player of the Match in that game, said that he hadn't even realised Pandya had had a back spasm that day.
"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," he had said.
Pandya struggles with bat, ball, and captaincy
With three wins in ten matches, the Mumbai Indians are all but officially eliminated from IPL 2026. Under Pandya's leadership, the five-time champions look all set to finish in the bottom two of the points table for the second time in three seasons.
Pandya's own form with bat and ball has been a complete dud. In 8 matches, he has only 4 wickets at an average of 61.50 and an economy rate very close to 12. He also has just 146 runs at a strike rate of 136.45.
The worst of it came in the match against CSK when Pandya, considered one of the better batters in the end overs in the IPL, struggled his way to 18 runs in 23 balls.
Mumbai Indians' remaining matches
Even though MI players and management seem to insist that their season isn't done yet, the mathematics seem to disagree. With not enough matches left, MI can only get to a maximum of 14 here by winning all their matches.
Their poor net run rate does them no favours. And neither does the fact that each of their next three games are on the road. Vs RCB in Raipur on May 10, vs PBKS in Dharamsala on May 14, and vs KKR at Kolkata on May 20.
