Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya (Image credit: BCCI/IPL)
New Delhi: Mumbai Indians IPL 2026 has endured a disappointing campaign. The five-time champions, who won all their titles under the leadership of former captain Rohit Sharma, are already out of the play-off race with just four wins from 12 matches while suffering eight defeats.One of the main things about Mumbai Indians’ poor season has been the captain’s form. Hardik Pandyawho has struggled with the bat. Pandya has scored 146 runs in eight matches at an average of 20.85 and a strike rate of 136.44. With criticism of both his batting and captaincy, the former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin came out in support of the all-rounder and termed it unfair to put the blame solely on him.“I wouldn’t review his captaincy this year. Honestly, when you have seasons like this, it’s quite unfair to blame the captain. No one came, the team failed to come. And for Hardik to blame himself is asking a bit much. He was at Gujarat Titans and had two fantastic seasons,” Ashwin said on ESPNCricinfo.Pandya returned to Mumbai Indians in 2024, this time replacing Rohit Sharma as captain. Before moving to Gujarat Titans in 2022, Pandya was already part of the Mumbai Indians setup from 2015 to 2021. He led Gujarat Titans to the IPL title in his first season in 2022 and then guided them to the final again in 2023.Ashwin believes that replacing a highly successful captain like Rohit Sharma was never easy. Rohit led Mumbai Indians to IPL titles in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020, establishing himself as one of the most successful captains in the league.Pandya’s appointment as MI captain in 2024 also sparked a backlash from fans, with the all-rounder facing boos during the season.“So obviously, as a leader, he did something there (Gujarat Titans). And when he came back to Mumbai Indians, he had to deal with a lot of trouble. It’s not easy to replace the current Indian white-ball captain like Rohit Sharma. Five IPL titles, he won the T20 World Cup, and Hardik said, “You replace a fan around the country and you get a huge fan base.”“You need a thick skin to survive on social media these days. I think he has been through a lot in his personal life as well. I will not judge his captaincy too much as the bowling has also leaked runs from all directions. Every time an over goes for six or seven runs, it is accompanied by an over of 15 runs. So what do you do as a captain? Sure, he’s made some calls that have been debatable. There was a time in Mumbai when there was a short boundary on the leg side. You don’t want to bowl the 20th over from that end. But he chose to bowl the 20th over from that side, with the field placement at the wrong end when the innings started. So these things can happen. They can stack one after the other,” he said.After Pandya took charge, Mumbai Indians failed to qualify for the playoffs in 2024. They returned in 2025 and reached Qualifier 2 before losing to Punjab Kings. However, the 2026 season has once again ended without a playoff berth for the franchise.“Captainship is often a result of how your team sees you. That’s why I believe that when you have a good season, don’t give too much credit to the captain and when you have a bad season, don’t put it all on him,” Ashwin said.
