Hardik has missed MI’s last two games due to back spasms.
Hardik was said to be battling back spasms, which prevented his participation against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
While the franchise is yet to release an update on Pandya’s fitness and availability for the next match, the all-rounder uploaded a video on his Instagram account, sending a clear message that he is fit and raring to go.
In the viral clip, Hardik Pandya can be seen training alone, sharpening his batting skills in the nets.
Under the leadership of Hardik Pandya, Mumbai Indians have had a dismal season, winning only two of their first nine matches. In his absence, Suryakumar Yadav led MI in the last two games, registering one win and one defeat.
Following their loss to RCB in the last match, MI were officially eliminated from the IPL 2026 playoffs race.
Speaking during the post-match press conference, MI head coach Mahela Jayawardene denied the speculations that benching certain players have become a ' political decision'.
"I don't think it is," Jayawardene said, before expressing full confidence in the core group, noting how hard they were trying to turn their form around.
"When you know the quality, you know they're also trying to do their best. If I knew it was something to do with a lack of effort, I would have spoken to them, but the commitment and the effort they're putting in is unbelievable. With Ro getting injured and coming back to bat the way he did-all that sums it up. The core group is quite valuable for us; you can't just keep changing. We went with the trust and the confidence that we had in them. There was no reason for us to sideline them because they just came from a World Cup, and they had a really good World Cup, winning it and all that. As a unit, we haven't been good enough,” he explained.