Rohit Sharma couldn't recover from his hamstring injury in time and ended up missing the Mumbai Indians versus Punjab Kings IPL 2026 clash at Wankhede Stadium on April 16. MI captain Hardik Pandya provided this update at the toss ahead of MI vs PBKS match.
Rohit Sharma to miss couple of matches in IPL 2026
Rohit is currently sidelined by a hamstring injury sustained during the team’s previous match against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). MI captain Hardik Pandya suggested that Rohit's recovery might take time, potentially keeping him out of action for couple of matches as he works toward full fitness.
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The injury occurred during Mumbai’s daunting chase of 241 against RCB, forcing the former captain to walk off the field mid-innings. Following the incident, the MI medical staff placed him under close assessment. While the team promised updates, his absence from the Punjab clash confirms the initial fears regarding the severity of the strain. This marks the first time Rohit has missed a game since the 2025 season, when a knee injury sidelined him during a match against the Lucknow Super Giants.
Rohit’s absence is a big blow to Mumbai Indians, especially given his strong individual form this season. He has already accumulated 137 runs across four matches, maintaining an impressive strike rate of 165.06. His leadership and explosive starts are vital for a franchise currently struggling to find its footing, having lost three of their first four games.
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He's gonna take a couple of games: Hardik Pandya on Rohit
After losing the toss against PBKS, Pandya said:
"We would have loved to bowl first as well, but yeah, good toss to lose. (But time to make a move?) Yes, time to play some good cricket, time to get that W win. So, yes, I think we played decent cricket. It's just that in a couple of overs, we have not been able to capitalize and we have been, kind of losing those big moments. And we're just gonna speak about that and just make sure that in this game, we come out there and make sure that those little battles, we keep winning it. Yes, I think last game, we went for four 20+ overs. I think any point of time in T20 cricket, that's not acceptable. So, as a group, we are aware, as a group, we are aware that what it requires us to kind of contain that, those overs and not let them slide away and have them big overs. And yeah, we have spoken about it. We have kind of planned about it. Let's see how it goes today. (What's the injury news because you've been plagued by some injuries?) Yeah, Rohit is out from the last game. He's gonna take a couple of games for him to see how exactly where he is. And Mitchell is unwell as well. So Mitchell Santner also is not available. So, yeah, we got a couple of changes. Quinny comes back and we have a debutant, Mayank Rawat."
Talking about the head-to-head encounter between MI and PBKS, the two teams have faced each other 34 times in IPL so far with each side claiming 17 wins.
Punjab Kings (Playing XI): Prabhsimran Singh(w), Priyansh Arya, Shreyas Iyer(c), Cooper Connolly, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal
Punjab Kings Impact Subs: Nehal Wadhera, Vishnu Vinod, Harpreet Brar, Suryansh Shedge, Yash Thakur
Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock(w), Ryan Rickelton, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya(c), Sherfane Rutherford, Naman Dhir, Mayank Rawat, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah
Mumbai Indians Impact Subs: AM Ghazanfar, Corbin Bosch, Raj Bawa, Robin Minz, Ashwani Kumar