Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: The two bottom-placed teams – Mumbai Indians and Lucknow Super Giants – will face off in an IPL 2026 clash at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday. With their playoff hopes hanging by a thread, both sides are desperate to turn things around and shift into top gear.Mumbai Indians, currently ninth on the table, have managed just two wins from nine matches. They head into the game after three consecutive defeats, including a heavy eight-wicket loss to Chennai Super Kings.LSG, placed at the bottom, also have two wins but from eight matches. They are struggling with five straight losses, the latest being a Super Over defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders.Mumbai’s campaign has been hit by inconsistent performances from key players such as Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma and captain Hardik Pandya, whose leadership has also come under scrutiny.The absence of Rohit Sharma due to a hamstring injury has further weakened the side, leaving them with little margin for error. Mumbai would ideally want Rohit back at the top of the order, but his availability for this crucial clash remains uncertain.
Will Rohit Sharma play against Lucknow Super Giants today?
Mumbai Indians have not provided any official update on Rohit’s return. The former skipper, who led the franchise to five IPL titles (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020), has not played since suffering a hamstring injury nearly three weeks ago during a match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Rohit retired hurt on 19 in that game and has since missed matches against Punjab Kings, Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings.However, Rohit was seen batting in the nets ahead of the LSG clash in a video shared by Mumbai IndiansSquads:Mumbai Indians: Hardik Pandya (c), Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Robin Minz, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Shrijith Krishnan (wk), Bevon Jacobs, Tilak Varma, Naman Dhir, Will Jacks, Keshav Maharaj, Raj Angad Bawa, Vignesh Puthur, Corbin Bosch, Trent Boult, Karn Sharma, Deepak Chahar, Ashwani Kumar, Reece Topley, VS Penmetsa, Arjun Tendulkar, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Jasprit Bumrah.Lucknow Super Giants: Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Aiden Markram, Himmat Singh, Matthew Breetzke, Mukul Choudhary, Akshat Raghuwanshi, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahamad, Arshin Kulkarni, Wanindu Hasaranga, Ayush Badoni, Mohammad Shami, Avesh Khan, M. Siddharth, Digvesh Singh, Akash Singh, Prince Yadav, Arjun Tendulkar, Anrich Nortje, Naman Tiwari, Mayank Yadav and Mohsin Khan
