Mumbai Indians (MI) have announced Suryakumar Yadav as their captain for their IPL 2025 opener against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on March 23 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. Regular skipper Hardik Pandya will miss the high-voltage clash due to a one-match suspension imposed for a slow over-rate offence during IPL 2024.
Hardik Pandya Facing ban for one match
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) enforced the suspension after MI were found guilty of maintaining a slow over rate during their last league match of IPL 2024 against Lucknow Super Giants. Since it was Hardik’s third-over-rate offence, he was not only fined 30% of his match fee but also handed a one-match ban, ruling him out of MI’s season opener in IPL 2025.
Also, Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif feels that Hardik Pandya deserves a biopic on his comeback story. Kaif said Pandya was tortured, and written off but he didn’t give up and fought against all odds to make a grand comeback.
“He kept that pain to himself and went forward, and that has been Hardik Pandya’s comeback story. It was a bad journey. Fans booed him, and people wrote him off. As a player mein apko bata sakta hu, beizatti…apman ke saath aage barna, use sehna, sabse gehra zakham hota hai (As a player, moving forward with insults hurts deeply). A player never forgets that. You can drop him, but being insulted wasn’t a good sign. It turns out to be mental torture for the player. Mental torture—that is what happened to Hardik. Despite all, he played in the T20 World Cup, where he dismissed Heinrich Klaasen in the final. Then, in the Champions Trophy, he scored sixes against Zampa. He performed with the bat and ball, fighting fiercely like a lion. If there is ever a biopic on him, then the last seven months should be an example for players of how to fight against all odds, stay calm, trust your strengths and make a comeback,” he said
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