The IPL 2025 season is in full swing and the third match of the tournament is here featuring Chennai Super Kings (CSK) vs. Mumbai Indians (MI) on March 23. However, Mumbai fans might notice two big names missing from the lineup captain Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah. Here's why.

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Why Hardik Pandya Isn't Playing

Hardik Pandya MI's captain won't be playing in this important match. The reason is a penalty from IPL 2024. During MI's last group-stage match against Lucknow Super Giants, they were penalized for a slow over-rate. This was their third violation of the season (2024) leading to a one-match ban for the captain. As per IPL rules a third slow over-rate offense results in a suspension for the next match. Since MI's final game in 2024 was their last match of the season Pandya is serving his suspension in the third game of IPL 2025.

Jasprit Bumrah’s Absence Explained

Jasprit Bumrah one of MI’s top bowlers is also absent from the match. Bumrah sustained a back injury during India’s Test series in Sydney in January 2025. Due to this he hasn’t played since and even missed the Champions Trophy. He’s currently undergoing rehab at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. Although Bumrah may return by early April he's not yet cleared to play in this game.

After losing the toss, Suryakumar Yadav, who’s captaining MI in Hardik Pandya's absence, shared his thoughts "i am good with batting first. We had a lovely camp back home, we were here 2-3 days before. Both are unbelievable franchises in terms of achievements. I am sure it will be a good game. Rickleton, Jacks, Santner and Boult are the four overseas"

Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton(w), Will Jacks, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Naman Dhir, Robin Minz, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Satyanarayana Raju

Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Rachin Ravindra, Deepak Hooda, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, MS Dhoni(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Noor Ahmad, Nathan Ellis, Khaleel Ahmed