Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene believes there's “nothing serious” about Rohit Sharma's injury and the right-handed batter should be back in the playing XI sooner rather than later. However, the former Sri Lanka captain added that the medical staff will ultimately make the final decision. Rohit, 38, missed the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 match against the Punjab Kings at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday due to a hamstring injury he suffered in the previous fixture against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
At the toss for the match against PBKS, Mumbai skipper Hardik Pandya stated that Rohit is likely to miss two games for the franchise. Against RCB, Rohit retired hurt in the sixth over of the Mumbai Indians' chase after suffering a hamstring injury. He received treatment prior to the start of the over; however, a few deliveries later, he walked off after feeling pain and unease.
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Ahead of the match against Punjab, Rohit was seen performing light drills at the Wankhede Stadium, but in the end, he did not take the field and missed the game for the five-time champions.
{{/usCountry}}Ahead of the match against Punjab, Rohit was seen performing light drills at the Wankhede Stadium, but in the end, he did not take the field and missed the game for the five-time champions.
{{/usCountry}}After the defeat against the Punjab Kings, Jayawardene was asked about the extent of Rohit's injury, and it was then that the head coach gave the crucial update.
“Rohit started running yesterday. He knows his body better than anybody else, so it's nothing serious, but at the same time, we don't want to push, and it's still early season, so the medical staff will take that call on him,” Jayawardene told reporters on Thursday after the loss against the Punjab Kings.
Woes continue
Mumbai Indians, the five-time champions, suffered their fourth defeat of the IPL 2026 season on Thursday after going down by seven wickets against Shreyas Iyer's Punjab Kings. The visitors chased down the target of 196 with seven wickets in hand and 21 balls to spare, owing to Prabsimran Singh and Shreyas Iyer's knocks of 80* and 66 respectively.
Quinton de Kock got his first game of the IPL 2026 season for the Mumbai Indians on Thursday, and he left an instant impression, playing an unbeaten 112-run knock off just 60 balls.
After the defeat, Jayawardene said that his side were forced to make changes to the playing XI due to injuries. Jayawardene also said that his side is just unable to get enough penetration with the ball, and this is having a significant adverse effect.
“We did try some combinations, and some of those combinations were forced on us because of injuries and players not available. So we tried to create something of what is available, but we are finding some spark in certain areas, but on the other hand we are not finding that, especially with the ball; we haven't been able to penetrate the opposition, so that's something that we really have to work harder on and see how we can improve on that,” said the Mumbai Indians head coach.