Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Rohit Sharma couldn’t attend the pre-IPL captains' meeting and photoshoot on Thursday (March 30) as he was "unwell", TOI reported.

On the eve of the IPL 2023 opener, all the franchise captains assembled at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad for a special photoshoot with the trophy. However, Rohit's absence became the talk of the town.

"He was unwell and thus could not travel to Ahmedabad for the pre-IPL captains' meeting and photoshoot. He is, however, likely to be available for MI's opening game in IPL-2023 against Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 2,” TOI quoted a reliable source as saying.

Besides Mumbai Indians, all the other nine teams were represented in the photoshoot with MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings), Hardik Pandya (Gujarat Titans), Shikhar Dhawan (Punjab Kings), Nitish Rana (Kolkata Knight Riders), KL Rahul (Lucknow Super Giants), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Sunrisers Hyderabad), Faf Du Plessis (Royal Challengers Bangalore) and David Warner (Delhi Capitals) being part of the frame.

The 16th edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) is slated to get underway on March 31 with the blockbuster clash between Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.