In a significant development, Suryakumar Yadav will lead Team Mumbai Indians in their first IPL 2025 match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on March 23. This news was confirmed by MI’s regular captain, Hardik Pandya, who will miss the game due to a one-match suspension. Suryakumar Yadav will lead Mumbai Indians in their first match of IPL 2025 against the Chennai Super Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on March 23 (Sunday).
Suryakumar Yadav will lead Mumbai Indians in their IPL 2025 season opener against arch-rivals Chennai Super Kings in Chennai. Regular skipper Hardik Pandya is unavailable for this fixture due to a one-match ban imposed on him at the end of last season due to slow over rate.
Hardik Pandya Banned for 1 match due to slow over rate in IPL 2024
Regular captain Hardik Pandya will miss MI’s season opener as he was banned for one match for his repeated over-rate offences last year. MI were deemed short of the required over rate in their last match in IPL 2024 against the Lucknow Super Giants at the Wankhede Stadium. Captain Hardik Pandya was also slapped with a 30% fine on his match fee, as it was his third offence last year.
Hardik Pandya received a one-match ban because of a slow over-rate offence in Mumbai Indians’ last game of IPL 2024 against Lucknow Super Giants. Since it was his third slow over-rate offence of the season, he was fined ₹30 lakh and suspended for one match. This ban carries over to IPL 2025, forcing him to miss the season opener.
With Jasprit Bumrah also unavailable due to injury, Suryakumar’s candidature isn’t a surprise, especially since he has taken over the reins of T20I captaincy in the last year. Hardik confirmed the news of Suryakumar’s captaincy for the CSK game at the pre-season press conference that he attended with head coach Mahela Jayawardene.
“Suryakumar Yadav leads India as well. He will lead Mumbai Indians in the first match,” revealed Hardik when asked who the stand-in skipper would be for the marquee clash.
Suryakumar Yadav Steps In As Captain for MI
With Hardik unavailable, Mumbai Indians have decided to hand the captaincy to Suryakumar Yadav. MI’s head coach, Mahela Jayawardene, confirmed that the team was officially informed about Hardik’s suspension and had to make this temporary change.
There are three regular captains in the Mumbai Indians camp, all with proven records. Rohit Sharma has captained India across all formats and currently leads the national team in Tests and ODIs. He also led Mumbai Indians for 11 seasons, from 2013 to 2023. Suryakumar Yadav is the current India skipper for T20Is, and then there is Jasprit Bumrah, who has captained India in Tests.
“I am lucky,” Hardik said.
“I have three captains who are playing with me. It adds more experience (to the side). If I require any help, I know that there are three different minds who have led India in different formats With so many years of experience.” He then added,
“They can put the arm around my shoulder and always be there for me. I look at it that way.”
Notably, Suryakumar Yadav is the current captain of the Indian team in the T20Is where his leading the side very well. The star batter has also led MI in a solitary IPL match, back in 2023. With Suryakumar Yadav leading the side, Mumbai Indians will aim for a strong start to the season against their arch-rivals, CSK.
Suryakumar Yadav is the national T20 captain and recently led the side to a 4-1 triumph over England at home. However, his batting form wasn’t particularly impressive and he managed just 38 runs in the five outings during the series.
MI head coach Mahela Jayawardene said the BCCI has communicated the one-match ban on Pandya to the team owing to three slow over-rate violations by his team last season. MI had finished at the bottom of the heap, managing just four wins against 10 losses in 2024, which was Pandya’s debut year as captain. He took over from Rohit Sharma, who led the side to five trophies but was struggling at that stage. Hardik is set to return as captain for MI’s second match, an away fixture against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad on March 29.