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Nothing is going right for the Mumbai Indians. The five-time champions have suffered four defeats in a row.
When Hardik Pandya replaced Rohit Sharma as the Mumbai Indians captain, it was believed that the management wanted instant results. And could you blame the owners and the think-tank for making this move? Absolutely not. Consider the facts. Hardik had just won an Indian Premier League (IPL) title as captain of the Gujarat Titans and then led the same franchise to the final the next year. At the same time, Rohit was struggling with the bat in the tournament, and Mumbai failed to win the tournament for three years. So, the succession plan stared everyone in the eyes. Hardik spent his formative years with the franchise, and it was the Mumbai Indians who gave him the stage to make the world his oyster.
The Mumbai Indians made a mistake by not retaining Hardik ahead of the IPL 2022 season, and the Gujarat Titans cashed in on the opportunity by signing him as a marquee player and giving him the captaincy straightaway. So the thought process would have been simple for the five-time champions - poach Hardik.
However, three years into bringing Hardik back and making him the captain, the move is clearly not working out. The 2024 season saw the Mumbai Indians finish last in the points table. The next edition saw the franchise faring better and making Qualifier 2. However, the ongoing 19th edition of the tournament has once again exposed a dark underbelly, and Hardik is clearly running out of ideas.
Also Read: Ex-India star tells Hardik Pandya to ‘take rest from captaincy’ and hand reins to Rohit Sharma: ‘Don’t want to be harsh'
And it seems even Hardik is losing patience with how things have been playing out in IPL 2026. On Thursday, the Mumbai Indians suffered their fourth straight defeat, losing by seven wickets. After the defeat, the all-rounder pulled no punches, saying it as it is. He passed the mantle to management to decide whether calls on certain individuals are needed. “We really need to see, do we need to make some difficult calls, or do we need to keep continuing and hope that we'll turn things around. These are some hard questions which eventually we need to answer, and yeah, ownership has to be taken,” said Hardik.
Which individuals was Hardik alluding to? One cannot say for certain. Hardik would himself be the first one to raise his hand to say that even his own performances haven't been up to scratch in IPL 2026. Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma can't seem to buy a run at this point, while Jasprit Bumrah is finally showing he, too, is a mortal and can go through lean phases. Shockingly, Bumrah is yet to get a wicket in the IPL 2026 season despite bowling 114 deliveries. On the other hand, Rohit Sharma missed the match against the Punjab Kings due to a hamstring injury.
Visible cracks
For the first time in the IPL 2026 season, Hardik's frustration spilt over onto the game, and his face painted a sorry picture when Prabhsimran Singh and Shreyas Iyer made a mockery of the 196-run target, chasing the total down with 21 balls to spare.
Every time a boundary or six was scored, cameras panned to Hardik and the Mumbai Indians captain flinched, flustered and whatnot. He was not so calm in the middle and was seen giving instructions to the bowlers and fielders by the second. Angry gestures followed, and it was clear that Hardik wasn't pleased with the hapless showing on the field.
Even Bumrah looked bothered with his own performance as he ran out of ideas on how to stop the batters and bring his team back into the contest. He first dropped a sitter off the bowling of Hardik and instantly chose to look away. To make matters worse, Rohit, who was sitting in the dugout, looked grim for the entire duration of the game. He hung his head back, clearly disappointed with the lacklustre effort with the ball.
Mumbai Indians fail to evolve
It's safe to say the Mumbai Indians management failed to read the danger signs in the bowling department. In a tournament where all the franchises aim to have 2-3 gun bowlers in the playing XI, the Mumbai Indians decided to place the burden on Bumrah. Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult and Shardul Thakur are no longer the force they once used to be.
Boult doesn't play international cricket, and the game has the habit of biting you in the back if you don't do the grind enough. Chahar too is no longer a reliable option in the powerplay, and it's no surprise that the teams are hammering 18-20 runs off his opening over right at the start. Shardul can take wickets but can also leak runs at a rapid pace.
With such a bowling attack, the teams are looking to play out Bumrah, and it's the main reason the premier speedster has gone wicketless in the first five matches for the franchise. The remaining 16 overs are turning to be free for all hence the teams have no problem in playing out Bumrah and score at a pace of 8-9 runs against him,
Another hindrance is the lack of quality Indian spinners. Mayank Markande's last good IPL season was 2018. Mitchell Santner and Allah Ghazanfar are the two overseas spin options, but they need some assistance for the pitch. When the Mumbai Indians were a force to reckon with in the IPL, just look at the bowlers they had at the top of their powers - Bumrah, Mitchell Johnson, Harbhajan Singh, Boult, Karn Sharma, Piyush Chawla, and more.
The basic errors on the part of Mumbai management are now resulting in poor displays on the field. And nothing more could be said.
Vishesh Roy is a sports journalist with a strong focus on cricket. He began his career at Asian News International (ANI), where he covered a range of high-profile events, including the India Open, Legends Cricket League, the England–India Test series in Ahmedabad in 2021, and the inauguration of the Narendra Modi Stadium. During his tenure at ANI, he also reported extensively on domestic cricket, covering several Ranji Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy matches across the country. While cricket remains his primary beat, Vishesh has also reported on tennis, football and WWE. After a stint of over three years at ANI, Vishesh moved to NDTV, where he gained hands-on experience in digital-first journalism, with a particular emphasis on live blogs and real-time news reporting. He joined Hindustan Times in October 2024 and quickly established himself with a series of exclusive interviews and source-driven stories. Ahead of the IPL 2025 auction, Hindustan Times was the first to report that the two-day event would be held in Saudi Arabia. In the early months of his tenure, Vishesh secured interviews with leading cricketers, including Pat Cummins, Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Rashid Latif. He has also closely tracked the rise of emerging talents such as Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Priyansh Arya by speaking to their current and childhood coaches. His background in on-field reporting has helped Hindustan Times Digital break exclusive stories on major developments, including Virat Kohli’s return to the Ranji and Vijay Hazare Trophy, IPL scheduling, and the T20 World Cup controversy involving Bangladesh and Pakistan.Read More
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