Will Hardik Pandya play tonight in RCB vs MI clash of IPL 2026?

RCB and MI will clash in a highly anticipated match.

All eyes will be on whether Hardik Pandya will play against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in IPL 2026 on May 10, in an effort to stay alive in the competition. This game will take place at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) slipped to the fourth spot in the IPL 2026 points table after the Gujarat Titans (GT) defeated the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in their recent clash. RCB had lost to Lucknow Super Giants in their previous game and now have 6 wins and 12 points from 10 games in IPL 2026.

On the other hand, the Mumbai Indians have won 3 games from 10 matches and have 6 points from those wins. They are mathematically still in the race for the playoffs, but a single loss in their next four games will eliminate them from the competition.

Update on Hardik Pandya’s participation for MI

Hardik Pandya, the Mumbai Indians (MI) captain, had not initially travelled to Raipur with the squad due to a back spasm. He had also not played MI’s previous game against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).

Ahead of the match, MI shared an update: “Hardik Pandya continues to be evaluated by the medical team, and they will inform the team of his progress. Suryakumar Yadav is coming tomorrow.”

Meanwhile, Suryakumar Yadav and his wife Devisha welcomed their first child, and Suryakumar joined the MI squad with some delay.

Due to a back spasm that kept him out of MI’s previous league game against the Lucknow Super Giants on May 4, Hardik’s participation is still doubtful. In a media statement issued a day before the match, the team announced that the medical team is still monitoring him closely.

Meanwhile, a Cricbuzz report on May 9 had confirmed that Hardik will undergo another fitness assessment before MI’s game against RCB in Raipur. He reportedly also trained with the team afterwards.

Now it remains to be seen whether Hardik can pass the fitness test and captain MI against RCB. If Hardik fails the fitness test and is not cleared medically to play, Suryakumar Yadav is most likely to captain the Mumbai Indians in his stead, as he did against LSG.

This match is very important for the MI contingent, as they need to win every match from here to stay in contention for the playoffs.

Even if MI win all their remaining matches, they can only get a maximum of 14 points, and hence they would also depend on other teams’ results to finish in the top four from this position.

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