Rohit Sharma skips Match 24 of IPL 2026 between MI and PBKS: Reasons Explained

Mumbai Indians are batting first in Match 24 of the Indian Premier League 2026 against Punjab Kings. However, Mumbai Cha Raja Rohit Sharma has not walked out to bat in this all-important game at the Wankhede Stadium, as Ryan Rickelton has found an opening partner in fellow South African wicketkeeper-batter Quinton de Kock.

MI vs PBKS: Toss Update

The visiting side got the coin flip in their favour and PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer confirmed that they will be bowling first, inviting the Hardik Pandya-led unit to turn up for batting first. Hardik revealed that they had to make a couple of forced changes for this contest with Rohit and Mitchell Santner missing out. On the other hand, PBKS entered the contest unchanged from their winning combination.

MI vs PBKS: Why is Rohit Sharma not playing?

For those who don’t know, Rohit had retired himself out in the previous contest against Royal Challengers Bengaluru after scoring 19 off 13. The experienced batter could not continue to stay in the middle after a hamstring pull. The issue did not end at that match, as it has become the reason of Rohit’s ouster in today’s game. He will continue to be out for yet another match before finally returning to the field, as confirmed by Hardik. On the other hand, an unwell Mitchell Santner has been replaced by Mayank Rawat.

MI vs PBKS: What did the captains say?

Shreyas Iyer

We are going to bowl first. (Talks about the team) Yeah, so far so good. I think we’ve got a brilliant start in the IPL. That’s what any captain desires to have, especially at the start of the season and our combination has been splendid throughout the season. So I feel that we just have to create the rhythm and maintain the momentum. I just ask everyone from the team that they should stick to the present and see to it that they are intent and they are proactive throughout. You know, it’s easy to get complacent at times, but this game, it is a fast-paced game and you have to be in the game, in your zone throughout. So that’s what I keep telling them every now and then. Looks a bit dry, but I interacted with a few of the players. They said that with the dew coming in, it gets better and better. So based on that, I took that decision. We’re going with the same team.

Hardik Pandya

We would have loved to bowl first as well, but yeah, good toss to lose. (But time to make a move?) Yes, time to play some good cricket, time to get that W win. So, yes, I think we played decent cricket. It’s just that in a couple of overs, we have not been able to capitalize and we have been, kind of losing those big moments. And we’re just gonna speak about that and just make sure that in this game, we come out there and make sure that those little battles, we keep winning it. Yes, I think last game, we went for four 20+ overs. I think any point of time in T20 cricket, that’s not acceptable. So, as a group, we are aware, as a group, we are aware that what it requires us to kind of contain that, those overs and not let them slide away and have them big overs. And yeah, we have spoken about it. We have kind of planned about it. Let’s see how it goes today. (What’s the injury news because you’ve been plagued by some injuries?) Yeah, Rohit is out from the last game. He’s gonna take a couple of games for him to see how exactly where he is. And Mitchell is unwell as well. So Mitchell Santner also is not available. So, yeah, we got a couple of changes. Quinny comes back and we have a debutant, Mayank Rawat.

MI vs PBKS: Playing XIs

Mumbai Indians

Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper), Ryan Rickelton, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (captain), Sherfane Rutherford, Naman Dhir, Mayank Rawat, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah

Impact Substitutes: AM Ghazanfar, Corbin Bosch, Raj Bawa, Robin Minz, Ashwani Kumar

Punjab Kings

Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh (wicketkeeper), Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer (captain), Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal

Impact Substitutes: Nehal Wadhera, Vishnu Vinod, Harpreet Brar, Suryansh Shedge, Yash Thakur

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