Why is Rohit Sharma not playing in the MI vs SRH IPL 2026 match?

Rohit Sharma was not included in the playing XI for the Mumbai Indians' home match against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2026. MI captain Hardik Pandya revealed that Rohit is not fit enough to take the field and will miss a few more games before taking the field in the ongoing 19th season of the tournament. He was injured during the MI vs RCB contest at the Wankhede Stadium and has been out of action since then. 

His absence has impacted the franchise, as the openers are struggling to provide good starts, with the five-time champions in the 9th spot in the standings. Although Rohit is working hard on his fitness, the veteran still needs time.

"Rohit Sharma is working hard, but he is still not fit. He will miss a few more games," Hardik said. 

Playing XIs

Mumbai Indians: Ryan Rickelton(w), Will Jacks, Naman Dhir, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Robin Minz, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, AM Ghazanfar, Ashwani Kumar

MI bench: Mayank Rawat, Raghu Sharma, Shardul Thakur, Krish Bhagat, Raj Bawa

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Henrich Klaasen, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Salil Arora, Pat Cummins (capt), Harsh Dubey, Eshan Malinga, Praful Hinge, Sakib Hussain

SRH bench: R Smaran, Aniket Verma, Liam Livingstone, Shivang Kumar, Harshal Patel