Not Hardik Pandya or Rohit Sharma! THIS India star to captain Mumbai Indians in IPL opener

Maharashtra: Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya confirmed that Suryakumar Yadav will be captaining the team in their IPL opener against the Chennai Super Kings to be played on Sunday, March 23.

Pandya facing a one-match ban

This follows Pandya facing a one-match ban for having a slow over rate last season. "Surya is India's T20 captain and in my absence, he is the best man," said Pandya at a press conference on March 19. This is not the first instance Suryakumar will be skippering the Mumbai-based team. He had been their captain when Rohit was away during the 2023 season in a match against the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Next match to be played on March 29 against the Gujarat Titans

Hardik will return as the captain of MI in their next match to be played on March 29 against the Gujarat Titans at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium. Suryakumar has also accumulated plenty of experience as a captain as he was appointed India's T20I captain last year under head coach Gautam Gambhir.

He was the one selected to succeed Rohit, who retired after India's victory in the 2024 T20 World Cup. Suryakumar has a great captaincy record for India till now, having won 18 of the 22 matches he has captained the team in. He is also yet to lose a T20I series as captain.