DC Vs MI, IPL 2026: Why Hardik Pandya Is Not Playing Against Delhi Capitals?

Mumbai Indians will take the field without their regular skipper Hardik Pandya for Saturday’s IPL 2026 match against Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Saturday, 4 April.

Stepping into the captaincy role, Suryakumar Yadav will lead the five-time champions in Pandya’s absence, taking on full leadership duties alongside his role as a frontline batter.

The move comes after Pandya was deemed unfit to play due to illness, forcing Mumbai to shuffle their lineup and adjust strategies ahead of the clash.

The change was confirmed at the toss, where Suryakumar walked out to represent the side instead of the regular skipper.

With the added responsibility of leading the team, he will also play as a full-time batter rather than as an impact substitute, a role he had taken in the previous match against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium.

Delhi Capitals vs Mumbai Indians LIVE Score

“He's not well. Doesn't look good; he wasn't fit to play today. So just getting into his shoes today,” Suryakumar said about Pandya’s absence.

At the toss, Delhi captain Axar Patel opted to field first, sticking with an unchanged XI. Mumbai, on the other hand, made several changes in response to Pandya’s unavailability and for tactical reasons.

Deepak Chahar replaced Pandya, while Corbin Bosch came in for Trent Boult. Mitchell Santner also returned to the playing XI, taking the spot of Allah Ghazanfar.

“The toss was irrelevant. We wanted to bat first. They wanted to bowl first. Very happy to bat. Looks like a good pitch,” Suryakumar said, assessing the conditions.

“(On the win against KKR) If you win the first game after 13-14 years, there's a lot of positivity in the camp, and we're very happy, but completely different venue here from Wankhede.,” he added.

“(On the surface) Looks good. We've done here really well when we've batted first and defended. Quite a few changes. Deepak Chahar comes in for Hardik. Corbin Bosch comes in for Boulty, that's a tactical change. Boulty had a good game in the last game at Wankhede. And Mitch Santner comes in for Allah Ghazanfar,” Suryakumar said.

DC Vs MI, IPL 2026: Toss Update And Playing XIs

Delhi Capitals have won the toss and have opted to field.

Delhi Capitals (Playing XI): KL Rahul(w), Pathum Nissanka, Nitish Rana, Axar Patel(c), Tristan Stubbs, David Miller, Vipraj Nigam, Lungi Ngidi, Kuldeep Yadav, T Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar

Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton(w), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Naman Dhir, Sherfane Rutherford, Mitchell Santner, Corbin Bosch, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah