In a significant development, the Mumbai Indians have suffered a setback as stand-in captain Suryakumar Yadav will be missing the upcoming IPL 2026 clash against Punjab Kings, which is set to be played on May 14 at Dharasala.

He has not joined the team at Dharamsala, and it is reported that he will be missing the game as he recently became a father following the birth of his daughter. The Mumbai Indians management has given him time off to spend with his family.

Suryakumar Yadav did have a mixed campaign scoring only 195 runs in 11 games with an average of 17.73.

With their regular captain, Hardik Pandya, already sidelined due to a back injury, it is considered that Jasprit Bumrah or Tilak Varma are set for a leadership role for the Thursday’s clash.

With several reports have about Hardik Pandya might be traded to another team has been circulating over social media, the franchise has clarified that there are currently no such discussions, and Hardik will continue to remain a part of Mumbai Indians in the foreseeable future.

Mumbai Indians have been eliminated out of the IPL 2026 season after their 2-wicket defeat Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Currently, they are in the 9th position of the IPL 2026 points table with three games yet to be played.

On the other hand, in Punjab Kings campaign has been hit with injury concern with Lockie Ferguson is dealing with slight niggle.

There has been off-field controversies and speculations that PBKS opening batter Prabhsimran Singh have gained 10 kgs in the last few weeks. With his performance seen slight dip in last few games, all eyes will be on the wk-batter during the clash.

Coming to the game, the HPCA weather report suggests that rain could be a spoilsport for the today’s clash. However, there are clear skies expected to remain at Dharamsala and there is higher possibility for the game to begin on time.

Punjab Kings Probable Playing XI: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer (C), Marcus Stoinis, Shashank Singh, Suryansh Shedge, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett/Lockie Ferguson, Yash Thakur, Arshdeep Singh

Mumbai Indians Probable Playing XI: Ryan Rickelton (wk), Rohit Sharma, Naman Dhir, Tilak Varma (C), Robin Minz, Will Jacks, Raj Angad Bawa, Corbin Bosch, Deepak Chahar, Allah Ghazanfar, jasprit bumrah