All posts tagged: Pandya

Hardik Pandya ruled out of Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru IPL 2026 clash in Raipur

Hardik Pandya ruled out of Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru IPL 2026 clash in Raipur

Published by Webster

2 min readMay 10, 2026 07:26 PM IST Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya was ruled out of the IPL 2026 clash against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Raipur on Sunday after failing to receive clearance from the franchise’s medical team. “Hardik has not been cleared by the medical team to take the field,” MI said in a statement before the match. In Pandya’s absence, Suryakumar Yadav captained the side. Speaking at the toss, the stand-in skipper said MI were backing themselves despite the pressure surrounding the game. “We are pretty confident to bat first. Big ground, black soil wicket and runs on the board will always be pressure on the other team,” Suryakumar said. FOLLOW LIVE | Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Mumbai Indians IPL 2026 Live Score Updates “We are going with the same team. We have always had a good chat around the bowling. It’s harsh on the bowlers. We keep trying to improve and get better each day,” he said at the toss, which his side lost and were put into bat by …

Hardik Pandya’s MI captaincy safe despite IPL 2026 struggles | Cricket News

Hardik Pandya’s MI captaincy safe despite IPL 2026 struggles | Cricket News

Published by Webster

2 min readMay 5, 2026 11:08 AM IST Despite a disappointing IPL 2026 that has left the Mumbai Indians (MI) ninth on the points table, Hardik Pandya’s position as captain is not under immediate threat. The Indian Express has learnt that the franchise management continues to back Pandya and does not see the team’s struggles as a reflection of his leadership. Instead, they believe MI have been slow to adapt to the evolving style of play in the tournament. This season, several teams have relied on explosive starts from their openers and bowlers who can make an impact in the powerplay as well as at the death. MI, however, have not been able to consistently match that template, which has put them under pressure in both innings. Pandya, who was brought in from the Gujarat Titans in a high-profile move ahead of IPL 2024, has had a modest season so far. He has scored 146 runs in eight matches and picked up four wickets. He has also missed two games, against Delhi Capitals and Lucknow …

‘Not the season’ for Mumbai Indians, says Hardik Pandya after CSK defeat | Cricket News

‘Not the season’ for Mumbai Indians, says Hardik Pandya after CSK defeat | Cricket News

Published by Webster

3 min readMay 3, 2026 11:39 AM IST Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya was at a loss for words on how his side could have restricted Chennai Super Kings at the Chepauk Stadium on Saturday as they fell to their seventh defeat of the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) season. MI were beaten in all departments by their arch-rivals, with CSK first restricting them to 159/7 and then chasing it down with eight wickets and 11 balls to spare. The defeat has left MI gasping for breath at ninth spot on the 10-team IPL table, having just two wins in nine matches. “Not the season, I feel, not just the night,” Pandya told the broadcasters after the match. “They played better, they bowled better, they fielded better, and they batted better.” ALSO READ | Mumbai Indians have the best names. They don’t have the best T20 team Pandya said that MI could not find any momentum with the bat after the first 10 overs. The five-time champions were scoring at nine runs an over at …

Former India player says IPL teams have figured out Mumbai Indians’ Hardik Pandya | Cricket News

Former India player says IPL teams have figured out Mumbai Indians’ Hardik Pandya | Cricket News

Published by Webster

3 min readApr 30, 2026 03:29 PM IST Former India wicketkeeper-batsman Saba Karim believes that Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya needs to bring a change about his batting and that teams are following a template when bowling to him. Pandya scored 31 from 15 balls against the Sunrisers Hyderabad on Wednesday but Karim felt that the Indian all-rounder could do more and that bowlers were figuring out ways to limit him. “The opposition bowlers have worked out a plan for him. Very few deliveries are bowled in the slot for him. The pressure of leading MI, the pressure of the team not doing well, all that is weighing heavily on him. If you look at the other [top] batters, all of them have reinvented their game. They have become multi-dimensional. They have worked hard on their game. Hardik needs to do that,” said Karim to ESPNCricinfo. While Karim said that Pandya’s batting needed adjustments to be made, he believed that he remained one of Mumbai’s better bowlers. Karim said that while Pandya stuck to a …

Hardik Pandya ruled out of Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru IPL 2026 clash in Raipur

Simon Doull on why Hardik Pandya and MI might part ways if he is not captain next season: ‘It might make him feel like, I have failed’ | Cricket News

Published by Webster

3 min readApr 30, 2026 09:58 AM IST Former New Zealand pacer Simon Doull responded to a fan question recently where he was asked that if Mumbai Indians were to release one or some players from their team who they had retained ahead of IPL 2025 when the mega auctions come around again, he said that in case Hardik Pandya was not captain next season, he could be the one that MI release. “My point will be, who’s your captain next year? If they are going to change something who is going to be the captain next season. If it’s not going to be Hardik Pandya, I think you release him. Only because I don’t know how he will go in an environment where he’s underperformed, his team has underperformed for 3 years. And his job goes,” Doull said in a video on Cricbuzz. “It (losing captaincy) might free him up. It might not. It might make him feel like, I have failed. It could go one of each way. And if you do decide …

Hardik Pandya indicates extended absence for Rohit Sharma after ex-MI captain misses 4th match in a row | Cricket News

Hardik Pandya indicates extended absence for Rohit Sharma after ex-MI captain misses 4th match in a row | Cricket News

Published by Webster

2 min readApr 29, 2026 07:45 PM IST There is no Rohit Sharma once again for the Mumbai Indians as they face Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Wankhede Stadium. The 38-year-old last played in April 12 against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru at home and had limped off after facing 13 deliveries with a hamstring issue. “Rohit’s going to take a couple of more games,” said Pandya at the toss ahead of the match against SRH, which he won and chose to bat first. “He’s been trying, it’s not up to exactly where he would want, so not available for the team.” He was batting on 19 off 13 balls when he limped off the field in MI’s chase of a mammoth target of 241 against RCB on April 12. MI went on to lose the match by 18 runs.  He seemed to be fine for much of the game and fielded for the entirety of the RCB innings. He was running normally for the first four overs of the …

Why MS Dhoni changes his bat before slogging sixes, how the curve helps Hardik Pandya hit sixes, and Suryakumar Yadav’s love for wide grains | Cricket News

Why MS Dhoni changes his bat before slogging sixes, how the curve helps Hardik Pandya hit sixes, and Suryakumar Yadav’s love for wide grains | Cricket News

Published by Webster

3 min readMeerutApr 25, 2026 07:30 AM IST India’s top six-hitters across generations pay close attention to their willow, be it the weight, balance, rebound, the curve and even the toe. At SG and SS, two main bat makers, try to achieve the Perfect 10 willow score for the batting stars. MS Dhoni Weight: 1,120 grams Among the top cricketers he is the one who asks for the least number of bats. He asks two kinds of bats that have different weights. He uses the heavier one, that has 30 grams extra in the middle, to hit big sixes in the slog overs. Chennai Super Kings’ Mahendra Singh Dhoni bats in the nets. (Photo: PTI) Tilak Varma Weight: 1,140 grams He uses a lighter bat to play sweeps and reverse sweeps against spinners and counter-attack the pacers. The sweet spot of his bat is lower down. This is because he mostly plays white-ball where the pitches don’t have much bounce. Abhishek Sharma Weight: 1,180 grams The spine of Sharma’s bat is much lower and so …

Ashwin slams Hardik Pandya for giving Krish Bhagat the death overs against CSK: ‘If you bowled the 2024 T20 World Cup final over…’ | Cricket News

Ashwin slams Hardik Pandya for giving Krish Bhagat the death overs against CSK: ‘If you bowled the 2024 T20 World Cup final over…’ | Cricket News

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3 min readApr 24, 2026 11:58 AM IST Former India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has criticised Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya for handing the ball to rookie pacer Krish Bhagat to bowl the end overs during the IPL 2026 clash against Chennai Super Kings. Bhagat bowled the 16th and 20th over of the innings, where he conceded a combined 31 runs and ensured the CSK ended their innings on a high. The pacer was introduced in the attack, despite Pandya himself having two overs under his belt. “With Hardik Pandya, I don’t have any personal relationship with him, but I always feel that he is a box office player. It is easy to say things about Hardik Pandya now, but today, when he gave Krish Bhagat the final over, I admit that Pandya went for 38 runs in two overs. But if a player can bowl the final over of the 2024 T20 World Cup against David Miller, you can bowl this too, right?” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel. “Krish Bhagat does not have …

‘Surya more tactical’: Tilak Varma on the differences between playing under Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya | Cricket News

‘Surya more tactical’: Tilak Varma on the differences between playing under Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya | Cricket News

Published by Webster

4 min readApr 22, 2026 08:32 PM IST Indian cricket finds itself in a slightly peculiar situation right now with its leadership. Suryakumar Yadav is the Indian T20I captain, but does not lead his IPL franchise, the Mumbai Indians. Instead, all-rounder Hardik Pandya leads the five-time champions in the T20 league and plays under Surya in national colours. The players have to adapt to the varied styles, one of whom is Tilak Varma, who is part of the India and MI setups. The left-hander said Surya was more of a tactical captain, while Pandya was motivational in his approach. “To be honest, Surya was a bit tactical. And Hardik bhai, he always backs the players and himself. If you see the last game, he was saying that ‘you will do it, you will do it and show it’. So he keeps motivating the players. Hardik bhai’s captaincy is kind of that energy. And Surya bhai is more into the tactical side. So both are good in their aspects and I am enjoying Surya bhai’s captaincy …

‘Not a Hardik Pandya problem’: Mumbai Indians captain on Jasprit Bumrah’s season so far | Cricket News

‘Not a Hardik Pandya problem’: Mumbai Indians captain on Jasprit Bumrah’s season so far | Cricket News

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2 min readApr 21, 2026 05:21 PM IST Jasprit Bumrah finally took his first wicket of IPL 2026, in what was his sixth game of the season, when he sent back the dangerous Sai Sudharsan, in Mumbai Indians’ victory over Gujarat Titans. In what was a rare time that Bumrah was handed the ball to bowl the first over of an innings, he responded by picking up a wicket on the first ball. In the post-match presentation, after Mumbai won the game Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya was asked a question about Bumrah taking a wicket on the first ball of the first over of the GT innings. “Yeah, it’s quite fascinating. I’ve seen a lot of people ask why Jasprit has never bowled the first over. But if you see, it’s been 151 appearances and I think eight or nine times Jasprit has bowled the first over. So I don’t think it’s a Hardik Pandya problem. It’s just that Jasprit Bumrah is so special that you use him wherever it’s required for the team, …