Ahead of the eighth match of IPL 2026 between Delhi Capitals (DC) and Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya was given out shortly before the toss.
DC vs MI: Why is Hardik Pandya not playing today’s IPL match?
The toss took place at 3:00 pm IST, in which Delhi Capitals captain Axar Patel won the toss and decided to bowl first. When asked about Hardik Pandya’s absence, acting captain Suryakumar Yadav gave a straightforward explanation.
“She’s not well. Just coming over to her place today,” Suryakumar said during the conversation during the toss. The statement confirmed that Pandya’s absence was due to a sudden illness rather than any injury or tactical move. The nature of the illness was not disclosed, but the team management decided to rest their key all-rounder as a precautionary measure.
Three changes in the playing eleven of Mumbai Indians
With Pandya unavailable, MI were forced to make three changes to their lineup. Suryakumar revealed the changes: “Deepak Chahar came. Bosch came in place of Bolt. Santner came in place of Ghazanfar.”
Deepak Chahar – The experienced Indian fast bowler has returned to strengthen the pace attack.
Corbin Bosch – The South African all-rounder replaced Trent Boult, who was named among the impact substitutes.
Mitchell Santner – The New Zealand left-arm spinner has been chosen over Afghan mystery spinner Allah Ghazanfar.
The impact substitute list for MI includes Mayank Markande, Robin Minz, Raj Bawa, Trent Boult and Ashwini Kumar, meaning Boult could enter the game as a substitute later on as well.
Axar Patel’s strategic move: bowling first on home ground
Leading his team in his first home game of the season, DC captain Axar Patel had no hesitation in electing to bowl first after winning the toss. Explaining his decision he said: “First match at home, I want to see how the wicket is behaving. It looks a bit dry, a bit tough. We chased the target well in the last match.”
Akshar recalled DC’s thrilling last-ball win in their previous outing, where they chased down the target despite being reduced to 26/4 in the powerplay. “Chasing the target from 26/4 in the powerplay, gives a lot of confidence to the group. Even the top order knows that there are batsmen in the lower order who can step up if they fail.” He added.
Delhi Capitals fielded an unchanged playing eleven from their previous match, which included impressive options like Ashutosh Sharma, Oqib Nabi Dar, Sameer Rizvi, Dushmantha Chameera and Karun Nair.