Why is Rohit Sharma not playing against GT in IPL 2026?

Former Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma was once again out of action in the IPL 2026. The Mumbai Indians locked horns with the Gujarat Titans at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Monday, April 20. The game saw home skipper Shubman Gill win the toss and invite the rivals to put the score on the board first. While talking about the team update, Gill said that the Titans would step in with the same team that guided the side to a five-wicket win over the Kolkata Knight Riders in the previous game.

On the other hand, the Indians saw two players, Krish Bhagat and Danish Malewar make their debut for the five-time IPL winners. However, there was no update around star opener and veteran batter Rohit Sharma from the skipper. It means that Sharma missed his second game in a row as the side collided with the 2022 champions.

Notably, the former India skipper is currently out of action due to a hamstring injury he sustained during the clash against RCB on April 12. The injury forced him to retire hurt from the game, and miss the next clash against Punjab Kings. During the Kings clash, Pandya had said that Sharma would miss a couple of games, but per latest updates, the 38-year-old recovered well enough to resume batting.

Why did Rohit Sharma miss GT clash despite recovering well?

The veteran MI batter had reportedly resumed batting after showing significant improvement on his injury. Not only this, but he also arrived at the Narendra Modi Stadium earlier than the rest of the squad to undergo a final fitness test. Though, the decision of his participation was to be taken on his performance in the test. Considering, Sharma didn’t feature in the playing XI, it can be said that he is yet to attain his previous levels of fitness that would allow him to play for the franchise.

Coming back to the game, Pandya said during the toss, “We had to regroup and speak about what MI stands for. This time we want to make sure we play some good cricket. Just backing each other. Want to go out there and play good cricket. We need to play good cricket overall. Need to get better as a group.” It is to be noted that the Nita Ambani-owned franchise stands at the bottom of the deck with just two points, and is in dire need of a win.