Hardik Pandya, the captain of the Mumbai Indians, trained hard during his team’s practice session in Kolkata on Monday, hinting that he will be back for their IPL match on Wednesday against the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Pandya was one of the first players off the team bus, who had missed MI’s last three games due to a back spasm. He appeared at ease throughout a lengthy bowling and batting practice at the nets.
The all-rounder attracted a lot of attention during the Mumbai Indians’ practice before the KKR match since he batted with ease and bowled at full throttle.
Before being sidelined due to the injury, Pandya last participated in MI’s away game against Chennai Super Kings on May 2. He did not travel to Dharamsala for MI’s six-wicket victory over Punjab Kings, where Jasprit Bumrah took over as the team’s third captain this season after Suryakumar Yadav was unable to play due to the birth of his child. During MI’s training, Suryakumar was also spotted.
Before missing the match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Raipur despite traveling with the team, Pandya had skipped MI’s home game against Lucknow Super Giants on May 4.
After he was spotted conversing with Chennai Super Kings CEO Kasi Viswanathan, his absence also fueled rumors regarding his future with the team. Some reports also connected him to a potential transfer to the Delhi Capitals.
Pandya has had a difficult IPL season thus far, taking just four wickets at an economy rate of about 12 while hitting 146 runs at a strike rate of about 136.
With just four victories from 12 games, the five-time winners Mumbai Indians have had a terrible season thus far and have been eliminated from playoff contention along with the Lucknow Super Giants. With two league games left, MI is now in the bottom two with eight points from 12 games.
Matheesha Pathirana and India spinner Varun Chakravarthy, who played in their most recent game against Gujarat Titans despite suffering a hairline fracture to his leg, were absent from the KKR camp.
