NEW DELHI: ‘Not the season, I really feel’ – the dejection on Hardik Pandya’s face was evident as Mumbai Indians suffered one other loss in IPL 2026, this time towards Chennai Tremendous Kings. Mumbai Indians’ hopes of qualifying for the playoffs now grasp by a thread following an emphatic eight-wicket defeat. They’re languishing in ninth place with simply two wins from 9 matches and solely 4 factors.A star-studded Mumbai Indians facet, that includes gamers like Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah, has 5 IPL titles to its identify and is thought for dominating opposition groups, however is struggling in the mean time.
There isn’t a Mumbai Indians batter or bowler within the prime 5 of the main run-scorers or wicket-takers listing in IPL 2026.After Mumbai Indians slumped to their seventh defeat this season, former India cricketer Manoj Tiwary feels Pandya, who took over the captaincy in 2024, has not obtained the help from teammates that he would have wished.“It was already over for me. Once I sit right here, I converse overtly about what I see. Primarily based on the cricket I’ve witnessed, a captain should win the boldness of each participant; you must be a pacesetter. Nonetheless, it seems like nobody is standing with Hardik. The help he wants merely is not there,” Tiwary stated on Cricbuzz.“Sure, the captain has a task, and for my part, he is not enjoying properly. However past that, the opposite gamers should take duty. As an example, Surya isn’t performing constantly each day, and Tilak hasn’t maintained his type after one good match. With that type of inconsistency from the squad, how are you going to produce outcomes? It is very disappointing,” he added.Former India spinner Murali Kartik additionally believes IPL 2026 is all however over for Mumbai Indians.“Look, you may have 5 matches left. I am saying neglect who you might be enjoying towards—even in case you win 5 out of 5, you solely attain 14 factors. In the event you take a look at the desk now, PBKS, RCB, SRH, and RR are all sitting round 12 or 13 factors. Even when these groups solely win two or three extra video games, they may stay forward,” Kartik stated on Cricbuzz.“Even when Mumbai wins each remaining match, 14 is their ceiling. In the meantime, the highest 4 groups nonetheless have video games in hand. Punjab Kings have six matches left; RCB and SRH have 5; Rajasthan has 4. There would should be a large shift for MI to qualify. Because it stands, the opposite groups are properly forward, and even GT is struggling to climb up from the underside. I might say the marketing campaign is 99.999% over,” he concluded.
