Hardik Pandya is not travelling with the Mumbai Indians squad to Raipur for their May 10 clash against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. 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.
Pandya did not feature in Mumbai Indians's last match against Lucknow Super Giants at the Wankhede Stadium, where Suryakumar Yadav stood in for him. The official reason for his absence was back spasms. "He's not well tonight, so I'm just stepping into his shoes. But otherwise, everything is fine," Suryakumar had explained at the toss of that game.
With the team losing and Pandya not exactly firing, either with the bat or bowl, there is an element of doubt if there is more to his absence than injury. Mumbai Indians officials were at pains to explain that there is nothing more to read about his absence from the May 4 game. "Hardik Pandya is unwell with back spasm, hence Suryakumar Yadav is captain for today's game," the franchise said in a statement.
But doubts continue to persist.
Asked about Pandya, Ryan Rickelton said he did not have much information about MI captain's expected return. "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," the MI opener had said after the May 4 game.
Pandya looked fine at Chepauk last Saturday (May 2) night when CSK beat MI by eight wickets. He bowled two overs and batted at No 6, scoring an underwhelming 18 off 23 deliveries.
His performances have been reflected in the team's results this season. With the bat, he has managed 146 runs in eight games at a modest strike rate of 136.45. His bowling, too, has been underwhelming - just four wickets in eight matches. Overall, he has a win percentage of 37.83 as MI captain across 37 matches and three seasons, with 14 wins and 23 losses.
MI posted an emphatic win in the game that Hardik Pandya missed. They are now in ninth place with three wins from 10 matches, with four fixtures remaining - against Punjab Kings on May 14 (away), Kolkata Knight Riders on May 20 (away) and Rajasthan Royals on May 24 (home), in addition to the May 10 away game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Raipur. In the best-case scenario, they can reach a maximum of 14 points - a difficult proposition for playoff qualification - but MI players and coaches insist it is not a lost cause just yet.
