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Suryakumar Yadav stepped in as captain for Mumbai Indians in their IPL 2026 match against Lucknow Super Giants at Wankhede, raising concerns among fans on why Hardik Pandya was missing. The query among them was whether Hardik has been removed as captain of the Mumbai Indians franchise as his side has struggled so far in the season.

However, during the toss Suryakumar revealed that Hardik is unavailable for health reasons not due to any leadership change.

"We will look to bowl first. Looks good, little humid also tonight, second innings we saw it became better. He (Hardik) is not well tonight, so going into his shoes. Corbin comes in for Boult, Rohit is back. You can run away from the fact, MI is not known for this position, put your hands up and play your best game. Can't say it will make us dangerous, we have five games left and try to win them."

Suryakumar's statement also cleared the doubts on the sacking of Hardik Pandya. The reason for his absence is illness. However, such a question has come up due to the pathetic run of the Mumbai Indians franchise in IPL 2026.

With Hardik at the helm the Mumbai Indians have only won two games out of nine played and have to likely find the way out of the tournament soon. The results haven't gone in favor of them and pressure was mounting on the side.

Individually as well, Hardik's performance has come under scanner. With the bat in hand he has mustered 146 runs in 8 matches averaging 20.85 with a strike rate of 107, while with the ball he has managed to pick up 4 wickets with a best of 1/18 and averages 61.50.

Clearly the Indian all-rounder hasn't made much impact this season.

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For Mumbai Indians, it has been a season of struggles but they still have 5 more league matches. They would want to end on a high.

Suryakumar also stated that team is not accustomed to such a position, but it should move on and continue to fight. His leadership in this match is a temporary solution, with Hardik making his return when he is fit.

Changes were made to the playing XI in this match. Trent Boult made way for Corbin Bosch, while Rohit Sharma made a comeback.

With playoffs still in sight, Mumbai Indians requires some urgent improvement in both batting and bowling. While the question marks surrounding the captaincy has been settled, it is the performance that has to answer the questions.