IPL 2025 is about to start. In this tournament starting on March 22, Mumbai Indians will play their first match against Chennai Super Kings. The first clash of both the teams will be on March 23, but during this time star all-rounder and Mumbai captain Hardik Pandya will not be seen playing. He will have to sit on the bench in this high-voltage match, as he is banned for 1 match. In such a situation, the question arises for what reason has he been banned even before the tournament starts? If he does not play, then who will be the captain of Mumbai? Let's answer all your questions.
Why is Hardik banned?
Before knowing about the captain of Mumbai, know about the punishment given to Hardik Pandya. Last season, Hardik returned to Mumbai Indians as captain. Due to this, there was a lot of controversy. As a result, the performance of the Mumbai team declined. The team was in last place under Pandya's captaincy. Due to this, he was criticized a lot. Not only this, but while captaining, he was found guilty of slow overrate thrice.
According to the rules, if this happens 3 times, a fine of Rs 30 lakh is imposed on the captain of the team. Also, he is banned for one match. He made the third mistake of slow overrate in the last match of the group stage. At the same time, his team could not make it to the playoffs. Therefore, he could not complete the punishment. Now to serve that punishment this season, Pandya will have to sit out in the opener against CSK.
Who will be the captain of Mumbai?
You have learned about the ban. Now know about the captain of Mumbai as well. Jasprit Bumrah is out of the first half of the IPL. That means he will not be in the race for Mumbai captaincy. Now in the absence of Hardik, Suryakumar Yadav and Rohit Sharma remain the two big contenders for captaincy. Rohit's trophy itself is proof of his brilliant captaincy.
At the same time, Suryakumar Yadav, who recently became the captain of Team India's T20 team, also has an excellent record. He has captained 23 T20 matches at the international level, in which India won 18 and lost 4. However, it seems difficult that Rohit will accept the captaincy again. Therefore, it is quite possible that Suryakumar Yadav will be seen captaining Mumbai against Chennai Super Kings.
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