Mumbai Indians will miss their captain Hardik Pandya in their opening game against Chennai Super Kings. He is serving a ban for the slow over-rate offence from the team in the last edition. Suryakumar Yadav will lead MI in Pandya’s absence.
Mumbai Indians will miss their skipper Hardik Pandya in their opening game of the 2025 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). He is serving a one-match ban for the third over-rate offence committed by the five-time champions in the final league stage encounter in IPL 2024. MI played their last game in 2024 against Lucknow Super Giants and the third offence in that regard meant the captain faced a ban for one game.
The ban got carried forward to the upcoming season and accordingly, Hardik will miss their opening game, a massive one against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Sunday (March 23). Reacting to the one-match ban, Hardik stated that he will have to go through the process and is out of his control. He also admitted that he didn’t know that the ban gets carried forward to the next season as well.
“That is out of my control. Last year what occurred is part of the sport. We bowled the last over one-and-a-half or two minutes late. At that point, I didn’t know the consequences. It is unfortunate, but the rules say it. I will have to go with the process. Next season, if they continue or not continue [with this rule], I think that is on the higher authorities. They can definitely see what best can be done.
“Surya, obviously, leads India [in T20Is] as well. When I’m not there, he is the ideal choice in this format,” Hardik said in the pre-season press conference of Mumbai Indians. Having said that, the MI skipper will be available for the team in the second game against Gujarat Titans on March 29 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
