Hardik Pandya has not travelled with Mumbai Indians to Raipur for their next match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Sunday triggering speculation that his days as captain may be over.
Pandya did not play Mumbai Indians’ last match against Lucknow Super Giants at the Wankhede Stadium, where Suryakumar Yadav stood in for him. The official reason for his absence was back spasms.
“He’s not well tonight, so I’m just stepping into his shoes. But otherwise, everything is fine,” Surya had explained at the toss of that game on Monday.
The franchise too corroborated Surya’s stand. “Hardik Pandya is unwell with
back spasm, hence Suryakumar Yadav is captain for today’s game,” they said in
a statement.
The five-time champions have lost seven of their 10 matches this season and
are placed ninth in the 10-
team league.
Pandya hasn’t been in the best of form managing just 146 runs in eight matches at a strike-rate of 136.44. In bowling too, he has been a failure with only four wickets at an economy of 11.90.
There is obviously a lot of talk on whether he has been forced to stay out and if there’s more to it than just an injury. It is understood that it’s still uncertain whether Pandya will ultimately link up with the squad in Raipur, so doubts persist.
Many think it would be prudent to try out new faces since Pandya has been
struggling to strike a balance between captaincy and his own form.
The team hasn’t attained much success, except for reaching the playoffs last season, since Pandya took over Mumbai Indians’ captaincy from Rohit Sharma in 2024. Patience seems to be running out with the team management and an overhaul of the side next season cannot be ruled out.
Reports of dressing room unrest following the captaincy change have also been doing the rounds though the management has squashed such rumours. The side has failed to perform as a unit though individual brilliance has often led to fragmented success.
Frequent injuries to players have also affected their progress. A hamstring injury had ruled Rohit out for nearly a month before he made a thumping comeback with a 84 off 44 balls in Monday’s game against LSG.
Tilak Varma, projected as the franchise’s future leader, has had one 400-plus run
season in five editions. Surya, who also has not accompanied the side because of personal reasons, has also been a failure at just 195 runs from 10 innings this season.
Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah too has been inconsistent. Ravi Shastri has urged the team to take good care of the fast bowler for the sake of Indian cricket and said that with the ODI World Cup next year, Bumrah needs to ease his mental fatigue and work on his overall fitness.
With an auction due next season, will the Mumbai Indians management be ready to take some tough calls?
