In the first match of IPL 2025, Mumbai Indians (MI) will captain Suryakumar Yadav, as regular captain Hardik Pandya has been banned for a match due to a slow over rate in the last match of IPL 2024.
Mumbai Indians announced on Wednesday that Suryakumar Yadav would lead the team in the first match of the 2025 season.
Although Suryakumar Yadav has not been able to perform any special performance with the bat in recent times, but Hardik Pandya has expressed full confidence in him.
Hardik Pandya expressed confidence in Suryakumar Yadav
Hardik Pandya said:
“See, we have no tension about Suryakumar Yadav. He has done well for many years.
Pandya further said:
“I am lucky to have three captains in my team – Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Jaspreet Bumrah.
It is clear from this statement that Hardik has full faith in Suryakumar’s leadership ability, even if his recent form has not been good.
How was Suryakumar Yadav’s recent performance?
Suryakumar Yadav’s performance in the recently concluded T20 series against England was very poor.
His score in 5 matches was: 2, 0, 14, 12, and 0 runs.
His performance in domestic cricket also faded, he could not do anything special even in Vijay Hazare Trophy.
However, Suryakumar is an experienced player and the team will expect that he will get his rhythm back as captain.
When will Hardik Pandya return?
Hardik Pandya will be available for the Ahmedabad match against Gujarat Titans on 29 March.
After this, the next matches of Mumbai Indians are as follows:
- March 31: against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) – Mumbai
- April 4: Lucknow against Super Giants (LSG) – Lucknow
- April 7: Royal Challengers against Bangalore (RCB) – Mumbai
