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Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya on March 19 confirmed that Suryakumar Yadav will lead the team in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 campaign opener against Chennai Super Kings (CSK). The India T20I captain will lead MI as Pandya faced a one-match suspension for maintaining slow over rate last season.
"Surya is India's T20 captain and in my absence, he is the ideal candidate," Hardik confirmed in the press conference alongside head coach Mahela Jayawardene on March 19.
The last time Suryakumar led MI in IPL was in the 2023 edition. In the absence of Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar led the team against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). He contributed with a 25-ball 43 in a winning cause at Wankhede Stadium.
Hardik will be back as captain in MI's next clash which is scheduled to be played on March 29 against Shubman Gill's Gujarat Titans (GT) at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
Suryakumar's T20I captaincy record
Suryakumar was named India's T20I captain after Rohit Sharma retired from the format. Rohit guided India to T20 World Cup title last year in Barbados. Pandya helped them make a miraculous comeback in the final against South Africa in Barbados.
Since then, Suryakumar has led India against Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and South Africa. He is yet to lose a T20I series as captain. Overall, he has led India in 22 T20I games. Under the 33-year-old's leadership, India have won 18 out of 22 games.
Mumbai Indians' full updated squad -
Hardik Pandya (c), Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit Sharma, Tilak Verma, Trent Boult, Naman Dhir, Robin Minz, Karn Sharma, Ryan Rickelton, Deepak Chahar, Will Jacks, Ashwani Kumar, Mitchell Santner, Reece Topley, Shrijith Krishnan, Raj Angad Bawa, Venkat Satyanarayana Raju, Bevon Jacobs, Arjun Tendulkar, Vignesh Puthhur, Suryakumar Yadav, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman and Corbin Bosch.
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