‘Nobody has turned up’: Hardik Pandya ‘had to deal with quite a bit’ at Mumbai Indians, blaming him ‘quite unfair’

Hardik had an underwhelming debut season with MI, finishing at the bottom of the table in 2024 with just 4 wins, but he made a notable improvement, giving hope to the loyal Mumbaikars after qualifying for the playoffs in 2025. However, they were knocked out by the dominant Punjab Kings side led by Shreyas Iyer. Things have only gotten worse for Hardik in 2026, with a massive dip in his individual performances and constant questionable on-field decisions that have raised alarms about his leadership, prompting rumours of possible replacements for the upcoming season. Under his leadership, MI won only 2 of the 9 matches he captained, with the team winning twice in the 3 matches he missed through injury under two different leaders, Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah, who announced his captaincy debut with a statement win against PBKS on May 14.

Despite the ongoing trade rumours and captaincy replacement talks, Hardik finally found some backing from his former national teammate and expert commentator Ravichandran Ashwin, who highlighted that it is unfair to blame only Hardik for MI’s struggles this season while also giving credibility to his championship-winning tenure with GT.

“When he returned to the Mumbai Indians, he had to deal with quite a bit. It’s not easy to replace an incumbent Indian captain, white-ball captain, such as Rohit Sharma. Five [six] titles in the IPL. He’s won a T20 World Cup. And Hardik comes and replaces him. You’ve got a lot of fandom going around in the country. You should have a thick skin to survive social media these days,” Ashwin added.

Ashwin further highlighted that although some debatable calls were made by Hardik over the season, MI’s bowling department has been a major letdown, with the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult also experiencing dips in form through inconsistent wicket-taking and the bowling lineup leaking too many runs overall.

“Bowling has leaked [runs in] every direction. Every single time an over is bowled for six or seven runs, in comes a 15-run over. So what do you do as a captain? And sure, he’s made some calls that have been debatable. [But] captaincy is the result of how your team is making you look. So which is why I believe when you have a good season, don’t give too much credit to a captain. When you have a bad season, don’t pin it on him,” Ashwin concluded.

Though it remains to be seen what the future holds for Hardik in this MI setup, it is important to remember his match-winning abilities in the past for both franchise and country. A bit of backing from the team management, along with a shift in momentum and confidence, could still spark a revival in his tenure.

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