Mumbai Indians will be without both regular captain Hardik Pandya and stand-in skipper Suryakumar Yadav for Thursday’s IPL 2026 clash against Punjab Kings, with fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah set to lead the five-time champions at the picturesque HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala. Mumbai Indians confirmed the development just half an hour before the toss through an Instagram post.
“A kid with a unique action bowled yorkers at will. That same kid, now a legend of the game, will lead the Blue & Gold in Dharamsala. A journey to be proud of, Captain Jasprit!” Mumbai Indians wrote on social media as Bumrah was handed the role ahead of Tilak Varma, who was named India A captain on Thursday for an upcoming tri-series, and five-time IPL-winning skipper Rohit Sharma, who has largely featured as an Impact Player in recent games.
PBKS vs MI LIVE Score, IPL 2026
Bumrah’s elevation came solely because of the absence of both Hardik and Suryakumar for the match against Punjab. The all-rounder has been sidelined with an injury and had already missed Mumbai’s previous two matches, prompting Suryakumar to take over captaincy duties. However, the India T20I captain reportedly did not travel to Dharamsala either, missing the game due to “personal reasons”, as Bumrah confirmed at the toss.
Hardik suffered back spasms during the match against Chennai Super Kings in Chennai on May 2 and subsequently missed the games in Mumbai and Raipur. He was seen training late into the night at Reliance Corporate Park, but a Cricbuzz report suggested that he is yet to receive full clearance from the medical team monitoring his recovery.
As for Suryakumar, reports indicated that Mumbai may have granted him a short break after the birth of his baby girl last week, especially with MI already out of contention for a playoff spot.
Bumrah, leading Mumbai for the first time, won the toss and opted to bowl against Punjab.
“We saw a little bit of the last game and felt that with the cold weather coming in, maybe the wicket will settle down a bit and the ball will come on better in the second innings,” he said.
Teams:
Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Ryan Rickelton(w), Naman Dhir, Tilak Varma, Sherfane Rutherford, Will Jacks, Raj Bawa, Corbin Bosch, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah(c), Raghu Sharma
Punjab Kings (Playing XI): Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh(w), Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer(c), Suryansh Shedge, Shashank Singh, Azmatullah Omarzai, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal