Hardik Pandya (Image credit: BCCI/IPL)
New Delhi: When will it happen? Hardik Pandya Return How serious is his injury? When will Mumbai Indians Will the captain return to action? These are some of the questions that are dominating the social media as Pandya has now missed three matches in a row for Mumbai Indians.With a back problem aside, Pandya missed Mumbai Indians’ home match against Lucknow Supergiants for the first time on 4 May. He was subsequently ruled out of the game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Raipur despite traveling with the squad. In his absence, Surya Kumar Yadav led to the side. Pandya also missed the trip to Dharamsala for Mumbai Indians’ six-wicket win over Punjab Kings, where Jasprit Bumrah became MI’s third captain this season after Surya Kumar missed the game following the birth of his child.Mumbai Indians all-rounder Shardul Thakur provided an important update on Pandya and confirmed that the all-rounder’s absence from the last three matches was injury-related.Shardul also hinted that Pandya could return for Mumbai Indians’ next match against Kolkata Knight Riders on May 20 at the Eden Gardens, while dismissing speculation about the MI skipper’s future with the franchise.“Hardik is injured, so he could not travel for a couple of games,” Thakur said during the post-match media interaction on Thursday.“He went to Raipur (for the RCB match on May 10), but could not play. He is now training in Mumbai and I expect him to come back to Kolkata and play (at Eden Gardens on May 20). Players like him, we always miss quality,” Thakur added.Mumbai Indians have already been eliminated from IPL 2026, and Pandya’s poor form has been a major reason behind the team’s disappointing campaign.The all-rounder faced a tough season as both captain and player.In eight innings, Pandya has scored 146 runs at an average of 20.85 and a strike rate of 136.44, with a highest score of 40. With the ball, he has taken just four wickets in 20.4 overs at an average of 61.50 and an economy rate of around 11.90.
