Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Hardik Pandya missed his team's previous game against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on May 4. Stand-in skipper Suryakumar Yadav said that Pandya is unwell while opener Ryan Rickelton in the post-match press conference said that he was unaware of the situation until afternoon of the game. As per a report by Cricbuzz, Pandya hasn't travelled with the team to Raipur for their next game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on May 10.
“At the time (Wednesday, May 6, afternoon) of filing this report, the MI players had assembled at Terminal 1 (domestic) of Mumbai airport, but the skipper was conspicuous by his absence. There is no immediate indication that Pandya will join the team closer to the match,” the report mentioned.
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On match day, the five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions in an official statement said that he suffered back spasm.
"Hardik Pandya is unwell with back spasm, hence Suryakumar Yadav is captain for today's game," the franchise said in a statement.
Pandya is yet to make an official comment or post about his injury or rehabilitation ahead of the RCB game.
MI win without Pandya
In Pandya’s absence, Rohit Sharma returned to the side after recovering from hamstring injury. As an impact player, Rohit Sharma scored 84 runs from 44 balls and shared a match-winning partnership with Ryan Rickelton. MI chased down the target of 229 with eight balls to spare.
"I don't know when he's expected to be back. I only found out this afternoon that he had back spasms. So I'm not aware of the extent of it - I wouldn't even call it an injury - or how serious it is or what he's feeling. But I'm sure he'll be back with the group as we head to Raipur this week," Rickelton had said after the game.
MI’s playoff chances look bleak
MI are currently placed ninth on the points table with seven losses from 10 games. Their net run rate (NRR) is -0.649. While MI's playoff chances are slim as five teams have six wins from nine to 10 games, they need to win their remaining four games to stay alive in the contest.
Pandya's performances dip
Pandya has not been at his best as captain and as all-rounder. From eight innings, he has 146 runs at an average of 20.85 and strike rate of 136.44. With the ball, he has just four wickets at an average of 61.50. His economy rate is 11.90 runs per over. In eight games he led, MI won just two games.