{"id":755,"date":"2026-04-06T13:27:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T13:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/hardik-pandya-back-in-nets-mi-coach-confirms-selection-vs-rr"},"modified":"2026-04-06T13:27:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T13:27:11","slug":"hardik-pandya-back-in-nets-mi-coach-confirms-selection-vs-rr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/hardik-pandya-back-in-nets-mi-coach-confirms-selection-vs-rr","title":{"rendered":"Hardik Pandya Back in Nets, MI Coach Confirms Selection vs RR"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>NEW DELHI:<\/strong> Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya is set to return for the IPL 2026 match against Rajasthan Royals at the ACA Stadium in Barsapara, Guwahati, according to bowling coach Paras Mhambrey. Speaking at the pre-match media interaction on Monday, Mhambrey said Pandya had completed a \u201cgood couple of hours\u201d of net practice and was available for selection. He also clarified that the skipper\u2019s earlier absence was not due to injury, but because Pandya had been unwell and therefore missed the previous game.<\/p>\n<p>Hardik\u2019s illness had kept him out of Mumbai\u2019s last outing, a move that immediately affected the balance of the side. The five-time champions were unable to stop Delhi Capitals as they fell to a six-wicket defeat on Saturday. With Pandya missing, Suryakumar Yadav, India\u2019s T20I captain, took over leadership duties and ensured continuity, but Mumbai still had to adjust to the absence of Hardik\u2019s all-round impact\u2014especially on a tacky surface where his skill set can be particularly valuable.<\/p>\n<p>The change in personnel also triggered a reshuffle in Mumbai\u2019s playing combination. Deepak Chahar, who came into the XI, managed a controlled spell, but the decision to include pace all-rounder Corbin Bosch rather than bring back experienced left-arm pacer Trent Boult did not yield the desired results. Bosch struggled to keep things tight and ended up allowing runs, which contributed to Delhi\u2019s chase.<\/p>\n<p>Even though Mumbai managed to strike early in the second innings and take two wickets at the start, they could not prevent Delhi from successfully chasing a 163-run target. The chase ended with eleven balls remaining and six wickets in hand, leaving Mumbai to reflect on missed chances after their initial breakthroughs.<\/p>\n<p>Shardul Thakur, who had been impactful in their opening match, was more expensive in the most recent game. Jasprit Bumrah, meanwhile, has continued to keep things economical, but he has yet to open his wicket tally for the season. In the spin department, Mitchell Santner has justified his selection over Afghan mystery spinner Allah Ghazanfar and is expected to keep his place for the upcoming contest.<\/p>\n<p>While Mumbai will look to regroup, the bigger challenge will be Rajasthan\u2019s top order, which has been producing strong starts. The Royals have been powered by explosive innings from openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, before Dhruv Jurel has added stability and momentum as innings progress. Their new captain, Riyan Parag, has not yet delivered a major contribution with the bat, but he will likely draw confidence from his leadership\u2014particularly the late-game tactics that helped Rajasthan register a thrilling win over Gujarat Titans.<\/p>\n<p>On the bowling front, Rajasthan have also enjoyed encouraging performances. Tushar Deshpande and Ravi Bishnoi have been among the standouts. Bishnoi is currently level as the joint-leading wicket-taker with five wickets from two matches, representing a notable recovery after a difficult 2025 campaign in which he worked on multiple parts of his game. Deshpande, in turn, demonstrated his death-over capabilities by defending 10 runs in the final over against the Titans, conceding only four while hitting the right lengths with a sequence of accurate yorkers.<\/p>\n<p>With Mumbai sitting sixth in the points standings and aiming to bounce back, and Rajasthan positioned second and riding a wave of confidence, the outcome could come down to how effectively Mumbai\u2019s bowlers handle a Rajasthan batting unit that has been firing at the top.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NEW DELHI: Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya is set to return for the IPL 2026 match against Rajasthan Royals at the ACA Stadium in Barsapara,&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":754,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"Hardik Pandya Return Confirmed for MI vs RR IPL 2026","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Hardik Pandya returns to MI nets as coach Paras Mhambrey confirms he\u2019s available for selection vs Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2026 at Guwahati.","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ipl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Hardik Pandya Return Confirmed for MI vs RR IPL 2026<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Hardik Pandya returns to MI nets as coach Paras Mhambrey confirms he\u2019s available for selection vs Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2026 at Guwahati.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/hardik-pandya-back-in-nets-mi-coach-confirms-selection-vs-rr\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" 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