MI vs RCB: Why Rohit Sharma not in Mumbai Indians playing XI despite Hardik Pandya confirming his return? Explained

Rohit Sharma has not been named in the Mumbai Indians playing XI against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the Wankhede Stadium in the ongoing IPL 2025 on Monday. Having missed the previous match against Lucknow Super Giants due to a knee injury sustained during training, there was doubts over Rohit Sharma's availability against RCB.

However, Mumbai Indians captain confirmed Rohit Sharma's return against the Rajat Patidar-led side at home. Notably, out of three matches, Rohit Sharma has played as an Impact Substitute in two games.

The Indian captain made way for young Kerala spinner Vignesh Puthur to make his IPL debut against Chennai Super Kings. He played the full game against Gujarat Titans while Mumbai Indians opener came as an impact substitute against KKR, replacing Vignesh Puthur.

Why Rohit Sharma is missing from playing XI?

Although Rohit Sharma's name is missing from the Mumbai Indians playing XI, the former skipper will come to bat as an impact substitute during Mumbai Indians' batting in the second innings.

“Jassie (Bumrah) is back and so is Ro (Rohit). Bot of our experienced campaigners are back in the side, that gives us an added fuel,” Hardik Pandya said at the coin toss.

Rohit Sharma's poor form in IPL 2025

Off late Rohit Sharma has been struggling for runs. So far, the right-hander has scored 21 runs in three matches - 0 (vs Chennai Super Kings), 8 (vs Gujarat Titans) and 13 (vs Kolkata Knight Riders).

MI vs RCB Playing XIs

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar(c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma(w), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal

Mumbai Indians: Will Jacks, Ryan Rickelton(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, Vignesh Puthur

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