THE JHARKHAND STORY DESK
Mumbai, March 19: Suryakumar Yadav will lead Mumbai Indians in their opening IPL match against Chennai Super Kings on Sunday, as regular captain Hardik Pandya will miss the match due to a one-match suspension.
The suspension is a result of over-rate offences committed by the team in the previous season.
Pandya, who had a challenging debut season as MI’s captain in 2024, leading the team to only four wins out of 14 matches, acknowledged that Suryakumar, as the national T20 captain, is the ideal replacement when he is unavailable. “Surya leads India as well. When I am not there, he is the ideal choice,” Pandya stated during MI’s pre-season press conference.
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MI head coach Mahela Jayawardene explained that the BCCI informed the team about the suspension due to three slow over-rate violations last season.
Pandya had taken over from Rohit Sharma, who had led MI to five IPL titles.
