Mumbai Indians are set to take on Punjab Kings in Dharamsala as they look to restore some pride after being officially out of the race for the IPL 2026 playoffs. However, ahead of the crucial clash, there remains a huge uncertainty over captain Hardik Pandya’s availability.Pandya missed Mumbai’s last two matches against Lucknow Supergiants and Royal Challengers Bangalore due to persistent back pain, and As reported by This Masthead earlier, he is highly unlikely to play against the Punjab Kings in Dharamsala.The regular MI captain did not travel to Dharamsala with the squad and instead stayed back in Mumbai to continue his recovery process. While the rest of the team headed north, Pandya posted videos of himself going through a three-hour solo training session at the Reliance Corporate Park, showing that he is still working towards full fitness.Suryakumar Yadav is leading Mumbai Indians as interim captain in Hardik’s absence. However, there is also uncertainty surrounding its availability. Suriya Kumar recently stayed back in Mumbai after becoming a father following the birth of his baby girl with wife Devisha Shetty.
Interestingly, SKY was away from the squad even before MI’s previous match against RCB in Raipur but traveled separately on the day of the match to feature in the game. A similar possibility is open even before the Dharamsala clash. Punjab Kings are currently ranked 4th, in the final play-off spot, while Mumbai Indians are sitting 9th and have already officially crashed out of the tournament. A win today will take Punjab Kings to 15 points, cementing their position in the top 4 and putting pressure on teams like Chennai and Rajasthan. Even though Mumbai may not qualify, they can still hurt Punjab’s playoff aspirations with an upset tonight.
