Why is Hardik Pandya not playing in the MI vs LSG match?

Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya has been ruled out of Match No.47 of the Indian Premier League against the Lucknow Super Giants at the Wankhede Stadium. Suryakumar Yadav is leading the five-time champions in Hardik's absence. He had earlier led the team against the Delhi Capitals in an away game after regular skipper Hardik was down with illness. 

"Hardik is unwell, so I am leading the side in his absence," Suryakumar Yadav said. 

MI are almost out of the playoff race after winning just two out of their nine games so far. Hardik has been a big let-down as a captain and all-rounder. The right-handed batter has failed to contribute across departments, and experts and fans have questioned his captaincy decisions.

In 8 matches this season, Hardik has scored 146 runs at an average of 20.85 and a strike rate of 125.00. Pandya has taken 4 wickets at an average of 61.50 and an economy of 11.90.

Since returning from the Gujarta Titans before the 17th season of the tournament, he hasn't been able to inspire the team. Although they qualified for the playoffs in the previous season, the champion team hasn't been impactful on a consistent basis. 

Meanwhile, Suryakumar has won the toss and elected to bowl first against LSG. "We are bowling first as the wicket looks good and the batting will become easy in the second innings. It is time to play for pride and give our best," he said.

Lucknow skipper Rishabh Pant wanted to bowl first as well. He is disappointed with the performance of the players and reserved special praise for owner Sanjiv Goenka, who has been supporting the players despite below-par results. 

Playing XIs

LSG: Mitch Marsh, Josh Inglis, Nicholas Pooran, Aiden Markram, Rishabh Pant (c, wk), Akshat Raghuvanshi, Himmat Singh, Mohammed Shami, Mohsin Khan, Avesh Khan, Prince Yadav

Impact Bench: Siddharth M, Digvesh Rathi, Mayank Yadav, Shahbaz Ahmed, Abdul Samad

MI: Ryan Rickelton (wk), Naman Dhir, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Will Jacks, Raj Bawa, Corbin Bosch, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, AM Ghazanfar, Raghu Sharma

Impact Bench: Rohit Sharma, Mayank Rawat, Robin Minz, Shardul Thakur, Trent Boult