Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya missed the clash against the Delhi Daredevils due to viral, but he is set to return for the five-time champions’ away clash against the Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati on Tuesday. Pandya travelled with the rest of the team right after the afternoon game in Delhi, and will resume training after staying away from action for the last few days. Stand-in captain Suryakumar Yadav revealed at the toss that Pandya is unwell and “doesn’t look good”. “He’s not well, doesn’t look good, so he was not fit for today’s game. So, just getting into his shoes today,” said Surya at the toss.
TimesofIndia.com has learnt that the situation wasn’t as alarming as it sounded after the toss and the decision to rest the all-rounder was taken merely as a precaution because the tournament is still in its early days. The team was scheduled to fly out of Delhi right after the game and the MI management didn’t want to take any chances with their premier all-rounder. Pandya traveled to Delhi but missed the team’s two training sessions before the game due to illness.Plenty of changes were made to the XI for the game against Delhi Capitals, but the result didn’t go MI’s way as the Surya-led unit was outplayed by six wickets. After a disciplined effort with the ball, Delhi, riding high on a Sameer Rizvi masterclass, chased the total in just 18.1 overs to hand MI their first defeat of the season. MI’s next match is against the unbeaten Rajasthan Royals, who will be coming into the fixture 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.
