Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya will miss the first match of the new Indian Premier League season against fellow five-time champions Chennai Super Kings at the Chepauk on March 23. The BCCI had announced its 2025 IPL schedule on Sunday.
The defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders will take on the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the opening match at Eden Gardens on March 23, a Saturday.
Last season’s runners-up, SunRisers Hyderabad, will be hosting the Rajasthan Royals in the first match on Sunday while MI will be the second match of the day down in Chennai.
However, five-time champions MI will miss captain Hardik. For the unversed, he had been suspended for one match post MI’s last group fixture against Lucknow Super Giants of IPL 2024 and fined Rs 30 lakh for a slow over rate.
“Hardik Pandya has been fined after being found guilty of maintaining a slow over-rate during the IPL 2024 match against Lucknow Super Giants at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on May 17,” was the official IPL statement.
“Since this was the third time his team has been found guilty of a slow over rate during the Season under IPL’s Code of Conduct, the fine was imposed on Pandya, which is Rs 30 lakh, and being suspended from playing in the next match for his team,” it added.
Hardik will rejoin the squad for the second franchise match against the Gujarat Titans on March 29 after serving the ban against CSK.
In Hardik’s absence, either of Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah are all contenders to lead MI against CSK.
Rohit was sacked as Captain by Mumbai and replaced by Hardik ahead of IPL 2024. MI fans were booing Hardik in Wankhede and also away during games.
The tensions between the two have been widely reported, which affected the team morale since MI was at the bottom of the table.
However, that is all water under the bridge, and both will be back together as MI strives for a sixth IPL title this year.