IPL 2026: On Tuesday, the five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) face Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Guwahati for their third IPL 2026 match. Before this clash, there’s some good news for Mumbai Indians fans. The exciting part is Hardik Pandya has returned to training with the team. He missed the last game against Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium because he was unwell.
Hardik missed DC clash
Suryakumar Yadav stepped in as captain for that match and said at the toss that Hardik wasn’t feeling well. Without him, Mumbai had to shake up their lineup as Deepak Chahar and Corbin Bosch came in, while Trent Boult sat out. That move didn’t really work, though, and the team ended up losing.
Now, ESPNcricinfo reported that Hardik looked energized during practice. He started with some warm-ups and then bowled quick yorkers in an empty net. After that, he spent time batting with Kieron Pollard, the team’s batting coach and the ball seemed to fly off his bat. All signs point to Hardik being fit and ready for Tuesday’s game, but the final call depends on Monday’s final training.
Rajasthan Royals will be coming into the fixture against Mumbai after winning convincingly wins in their first two games against Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans. The Riyan Parag-led team are currently topping the table, courtesy a healthy net run-rate. Looking back at Mumbai’s opening IPL 2026 match, Hardik took one wicket while giving up 39 runs in three overs and scored 18 from 11 balls with the bat. Now, with him probably back in action, Mumbai fans have a lot to look forward to.
