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The Mumbai Indians (MI) are struggling in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026. They’ve lost 3 games on the trot. One of the most in-form players, Will Jacks, hasn’t joined them yet. The bowling hasn’t been clicking. Jasprit Bumrah hasn’t taken a wicket yet. Trent Boult has 1 wicket in 3 matches.
Rohit Sharma unfit for PBKS vs MI match
Tilak Varma has been in woeful form, with 35 runs after 4 matches. Suryakumar Yadav looks past his prime. Now, their best batter, Rohit Sharma, won’t likely feature against the Punjab Kings (PBKS). The former MI captain had managed to score 19 runs from 13 deliveries against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) before he walked off the field in the powerplay.
Just moments before, the physio had come out after Rohit faced some discomfort. With scores of 78, 35, 5, and 19, he was MI’s most consistent batter. It’s clear that he has a hamstring issue. Whether it’s a niggle or a serious injury like a tear, we don’t know yet. Scans have been done, but the results aren’t known just yet. In the meantime, he didn’t attend the practice session on the eve of the game.
Who’ll replace him?
If Rohit doesn’t play, MI will have to make a few changes. Since they don’t have backup domestic openers, especially of Rohit’s quality, they’ll have to play Quinton de Kock. This means one of Sherfane Rutherford, Mitchell Santner, and Trent Boult can’t play.
Rutherford’s off the back of an impressive knock, 71 off 31, against RCB. Santner is needed since he elongates the batting order and is important in the middle phase. This leaves Boult, who has been off-colour. To ensure the bowling doesn’t take a hit, they’ll probably play a like-for-like replacement for Boult in Ashwani Kumar.
The 24-year-old plays for Punjab in domestic cricket and will know the Mullanpur pitch better than most. Moreover, he picked up 11 wickets in 7 matches last season. We might see another change, with Raghu Sharma getting a game over Mayank Markande, who also plays for Punjab. Markande has failed to take a wicket in 3 matches and is going at 15.20 runs per over.
Predicted Mumbai Indians Playing XI vs Punjab Kings
| 1 | Quinton de Kock | Opener |
| 2 | Ryan Rickelton | Wicketkeeper |
| 3 | Suryakumar Yadav | Top-order batter |
| 4 | Tilak Varma | Middle-order batter |
| 5 | Hardik Pandya (c) | All-rounder |
| 6 | Sherfane Rutherford | Middle-order batter |
| 7 | Naman Dhir | Finisher |
| 8 | Mitchell Santner | Bowling all-rounder |
| 9 | Shardul Thakur | Bowling all-rounder |
| 10 | Jasprit Bumrah | Right-arm fast bowler |
| 11 | Ashwani Kumar | Left-arm fast bowler |
| 12 (Impact Sub) | Raghu Sharma | Leg spinner |
The post Predicted Mumbai Indians Playing XI vs Punjab Kings: Who’ll replace injured Rohit Sharma? appeared first on Inside Sport India.
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