Ex-New Zealand Star Defends Hardik Pandya Despite Mumbai Indians' Struggles: 'Dressing Room Full Of Alphas'

Five-time champions Mumbai Indians are struggling in the Indian Premier League 2026. The side has lost six of its first eight matches in the season, standing on the brink of elimination. They have six league games remaining, with all of them now being must-win contests to enter the playoffs. While batters like Tilak Varma, Naman Dhir, Ryan Rickelton, and Quinton de Kock have been inconsistent, veteran bowlers like Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah have failed to live up to expectations. Hardik Pandya's below-par all-round show, alongside poor captaincy, has added to MI's troubles.

MI are among the two most successful teams in IPL history, but their last title came around six years ago. Former New Zealand player Simon Doull has defended under-fire captain Hardik, while admitting that the side needs change.

"I think the fingers will point to everyone. It starts with the team from a performance point of view. Then it goes to leadership, then upstairs. From an auction point of view, I think they got it right. It looked like a great team on paper. One year is a blip, two years is a concern, three years, that's pretty bad. That's time for change," Doull said on Cricbuzz.

Hardik won four titles with Mumbai Indians before being picked by Gujarat Titans and leading the side for two seasons till 2023. Under his leadership, GT won the coveted trophy in 2022. Ahead of IPL 2024, Hardik was traded back to MI and got the responsibility of leading the side, replacing five-time title-winning captain Rohit Sharma in the role.

"When they were in their pomp before the new teams came in, it was like a pride of lions, and Hardik was a cub. He was a cub that played a role in the pride of lions. He went away, did a great job at GT with a very new franchise, a franchise that he could kind of own and control. He came back and basically tried to fight the king of the pride for the reigning job, the king's job and it hasn't worked. It just has not worked and so there's got to be some accountability from the very top because the very top made that decision. They gave him that responsibility and they allowed him to come back into what they had was a very successful team and a successful franchise," Doull said.

The former New Zealand batter said the Mumbai Indians dressing room is full of alphas, so it is difficult to lead such a side.

"Now in that dressing room, in that environment, you've got four blokes who can all be the king. You have four guys who have all captained their country at different stages. So it's a very difficult room, it's full of alphas. It's a difficult room if things aren't going well," he said.

"The ownership, director of cricket, and manager have got to take the responsibility for what has happened in the last three years", he added.

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Topics mentioned in this article

Cricket Mumbai Indians Hardik Pandya Simon Blair Doull IPL 2026