Hardik Pandya’s Late Night Nets Spark Buzz Around his Injury

The Mumbai Indians’ skipper, Hardik Pandya, has missed the last two games of the Tata IPL 2026 against the Lucknow Super Giants and the Royal Challengers Bengaluru. In his absence, Suryakumar Yadav led the side that saw MI defeating LSG comfortably but going down against the reigning champions, which effectively ended their disappointing campaign this year. The MI skipper wasn’t present in the team dugout in either of the last two games. Hardik was reportedly out due to a back spasm, but was he really injured?

Is Hardik Pandya really injured?

On paper, yes, the Mumbai Indians skipper is injured, but Hardik’s social media posts paint a completely different picture. The MI skipper has posted multiple videos on his Instagram handle where he was seen batting aggressively in the nets during a solo late-night training session at a Reliance facility, possibly in Mumbai.

The way he was batting, Hardik looked comfortable with no signs of discomfort and thrashing pace bowlers at will. In the practice clips, Hardik appeared to bat with freedom, striking cleanly, timing his big shots well, and moving smoothly at the crease, despite the Mumbai Indians earlier confirming he had been troubled by back spasms.

The timing of this training session has stirred curiosity among fans, especially since Hardik did not accompany the initial MI squad to Dharamsala for their upcoming clash against the Punjab Kings.

Hardik’s last appearance in the Tata IPL 2026 came during the clash against fellow 5-time champions Chennai Super Kings on May 2 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Since then, the all-rounder has missed MI’s next two games: against the Lucknow Super Giants, which they won under Suryakumar Yadav’s captaincy by 6 wickets in Mumbai, and against the reigning champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru at Raipur, which MI lost by 2 wickets and were knocked out of the playoffs race.

“Hardik had a back issue which we were trying to rectify, but it hasn’t settled in yet. He couldn’t train the last few days, so we didn’t want to take a risk without knowing exactly. So we’ll see. It’s on a day-to-day basis.”

Will Hardik Pandya play against the Punjab Kings?

As of now, it doesn’t seem like Hardik Pandya is going to feature in MI’s next game against last year’s runners-up, Punjab Kings, at the picturesque Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala on May 14. Hardik has traveled to Dharamshala separately and is present with the team.

With the Mumbai Indians already eliminated from the playoff race, risking Hardik Pandya won’t be a straight-up call from the team management. The 5-time champions have nowhere to go now; the team management should look to test their bench and give opportunities to players who haven’t featured in a single game this season.

Whether Mumbai chooses to risk him immediately or continues monitoring his back issue remains uncertain, but one thing is clear: Hardik’s late-night net session has quickly become a major talking point for the franchise as IPL 2026 enters its final phase.