Hardik Pandya, the captain of the Mumbai Indians, will make a comeback when the team plays the Rajasthan Royals on Tuesday, April 7 at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati. Hardik was absent from MI’s most recent match against Delhi Capitals, which was captained by Suryakumar Yadav.
In that game, Delhi’s Sameer Rizvi stole the show by hitting 90 runs off 51 balls to give DC their second victory of the season, while the five-time champions lost by six wickets. Bowling coach Paras Mhambrey confirmed Hardik’s availability ahead of MI’s third match, giving the club a much-needed boost as they aim to recover well in the IPL 2026 season.
“Hardik Pandya will be available for tomorrow’s game. He wasn’t injured, he was unwell. He is fit and fine now,” said Mhambrey as quoted by Cricbuzz.
MI Split Results After Strong Start in IPL 2026
Mumbai Indians opened their 2026 IPL campaign with a bang and beats Kolkata Knight Riders by six wickets at Wankhede stadium. KKR scored 220/4 in 20 overs with captain Ajinkya Rahane scoring 67 in 40 balls and Angkrish Raghuvanshi recording 51 in 29. The best bowler at MI was Shardul Thakur who took 3/39. MI responded by chasing down the target in 19.1 overs, which ended at 224/4. Ryan Rickelton hit 81 out of 43 balls, and Rohit Sharma hit 78 out of 38, the two men combining to start the match with a 148-run partnership in 71 balls.
Their buildup, however, collapsed in the second match with Delhi Capitals. Batting first, MI scored 162/6 in 20 overs, with stand-in captain Suryakumar Yadav leading the pack with 51 out of 36 balls. The other batting line fell short in their contribution. Mukesh Kumar of DC had a figure of 2/26 in three overs that impressed. In pursuit, DC made 164/4 in 18.1 overs with Sameer Rizvi blasting 90 in 51 balls.
MI has earned one win and one loss to be at the sixth point on the points table. Their goal will be to recover strongly and get their second win in the match with Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati on Tuesday.
