Hardik Pandya, captain of Mumbai Indians, has confirmed that he will not be part of the team’s first match of the IPL season for 2025—against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), on March 23—due to a ban imposed on him for maintaining a slow over-rate in the last match of the previous season.
This has led to speculation about who would captivate the team in Hardik’s absence. Mumbai Indians have not officially assigned a vice-captain,while the squad has a strong leadership group such as former captain Rohit Sharma. However, in a pre-season press conference, he revealed that Suryakumar Yadav will lead the side in his absence.
Leadership Role for Suryakumar Yadav
The captain of the Indian team in the purest format at 34 years old, Suryakumar will take charge of the Mumbai Indians in place of Hardik. Interestingly, Hardik was the vice-captain for India in white-ball formats for quite some time yet didn’t get the name of captain after the retirement of Rohit Sharma. Suryakumar is already known for the captaincy of the Mumbai Indians, having played a league stage match against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the year 2023, leading them to a five-wicket victory.
Besides Hardik, this season opener of the Mumbai Indians against CSK will also be without Jasprit Bumrah. The star pacer is still recovering from an injury during the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy and missed the 2025 Champions Trophy. There has been no confirmation yet of his return date.
Mumbai Indians’ captain and star pacer may not play during the first game of the season, but it shouldn’t deter them from starting the season on a promising note. They will hope under the aegis of Suryakumar Yadav, he leads them to a CSK victory today and sets the tone for the entire season.
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