Why is Hardik Pandya not playing tonight's MI vs LSG clash of IPL 2026?

Suryakumar Yadav is captaining MI in Hardik Pandya’s absence.

Mumbai Indians (MI) are clashing with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in match 47 of the Indian Premier League 2026. The encounter is taking place at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Monday, May 4.

Both teams have completely struggled to make a mark in the tournament so far. While the Mumbai Indians languish at ninth spot in the points table with just two wins of nine games, Lucknow are stranded in the bottom spot with two victories of eight clashes.

Interestingly, MI captain Hardik Pandya is absent from the clash against LSG. In his absence, vice-captain Suryakumar Yadav is captaining the side. Let’s know why Hardik is not playing tonight’s match.

Why is Hardik Pandya not part of MI’s playing XI vs LSG?

At the toss, Suryakumar Yadav said that Pandya is not well. The all-rounder missed the MI vs LSG clash due to back spasm. Moreover, Corbin Bosch also has replaced Trent Boult in the playing XI, while Rohit Sharma is back to the side after recovering from his hamstring injury.

Speaking at the toss, Surya said, “We will look to bowl first. Nothing, it looks good. It’s a little humid also tonight. There’s no wind. In the second innings, we saw what happened here in the last 2-3 games. So it became a little better. So just want to take advantage and give it to the bowlers”.

“He’s (Hardik) not well tonight, so just going into his shoes. But yeah, the rest, everything is fine. There’s definitely, Cobin Bosch comes in for Trent Boult and also our very own Rohit Sharma is back,” he added.

Notably, Hardik has struggled with his captaincy as well as performance. Under his captaincy, Mumbai have lost seven games out of nine despite starting the tournament with a victory against KKR.

In eight matches, Pandya has scored 146 runs at a poor average of 20.86, failing to hit any fifties. The MI skipper has clinched four wickets in eight games at an economy of 11.90.

Mumbai Indians Playing XI vs LSG: Ryan Rickelton (WK), Naman Dhir, Suryakumar Yadav (C), Tilak Varma, Will Jacks, Raj Bawa, Corbin Bosch, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, AM Ghazanfar, Raghu Sharma.

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