Hardik Pandya joins Mumbai Indians camp right after arriving from 2025 Champions Trophy [In Picture]

Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya has joined the team ahead of the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL), which kicks off on March 22. The season opener will see defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders face off against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at Eden Gardens.

Recently, Hardik was seen playing for the Indian team in the Champions Trophy 2025 final against New Zealand on March 9. India defeated the Kiwis by four wickets to secure the title under Rohit Sharma's leadership.

Just a day later, on March 11, the Indian all-rounder joined the MI camp ahead of the upcoming IPL season, which is only a few days away. The MI X account shared a photo of the 31-year-old joining the camp, captioning the post:

“The Gun has arrived.”

The five-time champions endured a challenging 2024 season under Hardik Pandya, finishing at the bottom of the points table with only four wins from 14 matches.

Additionally, the all-rounder faced boos at every venue, having taken over the captaincy from Rohit Sharma after moving from Gujarat Titans to MI. Hardik will be determined to turn the team’s fortunes around in the 2025 season and guide MI to their sixth title.

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Mumbai Indians' schedule for IPL 2025

Mumbai Indians will begin their IPL 2025 campaign with an El Clasico against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on March 23 in Chennai. Here’s the full schedule for the team in the upcoming season:

March 23: CSK vs MI in Chennai, 7:30 PM

March 29: GT vs MI in Ahmedabad, 7:30 PM

March 31: MI vs KKR in Mumbai, 7:30 PM

April 4: LSG vs MI in Lucknow, 7:30 PM

April 7: MI vs RRCB in Mumbai, 7:30 PM

April 13: DC vs MI in Delhi, 7:30 PM

April 17: MI vs SRH in Mumbai, 7:30 PM

April 20: MI vs CSK in Mumbai, 7:30 PM

April 23: SRH vs MI in Hyderabad, 7:30 PM

April 27: MI vs LSG in Mumbai, 3:30 PM

May 1: RR vs MI in Jaipur, 7:30 PM

May 6: MI vs GT in Mumbai, 7:30 PM

May 11: PBKS vs MI in Dharamsala, 3:30 PM

May 15: MI vs DC in Mumbai, 7:30 PM

Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians will be without their captain Hardik Pandya for the opening match against CSK. This follows Hardik-led MI's failure to complete their overs within the allotted time on three occasions during IPL 2024. Since the third over-rate offence occurred in MI's final match of the season, Pandya's suspension will carry over to IPL 2025.