IPL 2025: With the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) season scheduled to begin at Eden Gardens on March 22 as Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will take on Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the opening match, Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya will miss his side’s opening match.
According to the schedule, the five-time IPL trophy winners Mumbai Indians will face fellow five-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Chepauk on March 23. MI will play the second match of the day at Chennai.
However, five-time champions MI will not be led by their captain Hardik as he was suspended for one match after MI’s last group stage match of IPL 2024 against Lucknow Super Giants. He was also fined ₹30 lakh for maintaining a slow over rate.
“Hardik Pandya, the Mumbai Indians captain, has been fined after his team maintained a slow over rate during their IPL 2024 match against Lucknow Super Giants at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on May 17,” an official IPL statement had said.
“As it was his team’s third offence of the season under the IPL’s Code of Conduct relating to minimum over rate offences, Pandya was fined ₹30 lakh and banned from playing the team’s next match,” it added.
Hardik Pandya will return for Mumbai Indian’s second match against Gujarat Titans on March 29.
Who may lead MI in Hardik’s absence?
In Hardik’s absence, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, and Jasprit Bumrah are all in contention to lead MI against CSK.
In 2024, before the season, Rohit Sharma was replaced with Hardik as skipper. Hardik was booed by MI fans, both at Wankhede and away from home during matches. It was a surprise to many when MI finished bottom of the pile of the IPL 2024.
Though Hardik and Rohit were reported to have rift, the reports ended following India won the T20 World Cup 2024 at Babados.
MI full squad:
Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, Tilak Varma, Trent Boult, Naman Dhir, Robin Minz, Karn Sharma Ryan Rickelton, Deepak Chahar, Allah Ghazanfar, Will Jacks, Ashwani Kumar, Mitchell Santner, Reece Topley, Krishnan Shrijith, Raj Angad Bawa, Satyanarayana Raju, Bevon Jacobs, Arjun Tendulkar, Lizaad Williams, Vignesh Puthur.
