NEW DELHI: Rohit Sharma missed Mumbai Indians’ crucial IPL 2026 clash against Punjab Kings at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday. The former Mumbai Indians captain, who led the franchise to five IPL titles, was rested after suffering a hamstring injury in the previous match.There has been considerable speculation surrounding Rohit’s availability, with Mumbai Indians assessing his fitness till the last minute. However, the team decided not to take any chances and decided to rest him.
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‘We lost momentum’ – Mahela on MI defeat and key mistakes Quinton de Kock replaced Rohit at the top of the order and opened alongside Ryan Rickelton.Mumbai Indians slumped to their fourth straight defeat, losing the match by seven wickets to Punjab Kings.Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene gave an update on Rohit and commented on the situation after the match.“Yesterday (Rohit) started running, (we’ll take it) day by day to see how he feels. He knows his body better than anyone so it’s nothing serious but at the same time we don’t want to push and it’s still early in the season,” Jayawardene said at the post-match press conference.Jayawardene also stressed that the team’s struggles cannot be blamed on one individual and are a collective responsibility.Mumbai Indians started their IPL 2026 campaign with a six-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders but have since suffered defeats against Delhi Capitals, Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and now Punjab Kings.“I think it’s on all of us when we’re not doing well. It’s not an individual. It’s very much on me, everybody involved in the leadership and all of that to see how we can be better,” he said.“I know we are playing good cricket. We are not completely out, but at the same time other teams are much better, clinical; of course the confidence is also high when they have such a start, so we just need to control the phases that we can control. So I think it is not just down to one individual. As a franchise, as a team management, we have to do things better to get into some rhythm that our coach gives us,” said the coach. added.
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With this result, Punjab Kings moved to the top of the points table with four wins and one draw, ahead of defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Mumbai Indians, meanwhile, have slipped to ninth place with just one win from five matches.
