India, May 4 -- Hardik Pandya, the Mumbai Indians captain, missed the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 fixture against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday, and in his place, Suryakumar Yadav lead the side. This was the second time that the all-rounder missed a game for the Mumbai Indians, as the same had happened earlier during the match against the Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.

Suryakumar, who was coping with criticism for his poor form in IPL 2026, came out for the toss and was seen giggling around with LSG skipper Rishabh Pant. The India T20 World Cup-winning captain said the all-rounder was "unwell," so he stepped into Hardik's shoes.

"He is not well tonight, so I'm just going into his shoe...