Hardik Pandya "Captaincy Experiment" Not Working? Harsha Bhogle Analyses MI Crisis
Despite boasting star players such as Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, and Tilak Varma, Mumbai's campaign has been nothing short of disastrous, raising serious questions about leadership.
Mumbai Indians are on the brink of elimination from the IPL 2026 title race. Once regarded as one of the most formidable sides in the tournament, the five-time champions are struggling badly for consistency this season. MI suffered their seventh defeat in nine matches on Saturday after going down to arch-rivals Chennai Super Kings. Batting first, MI were restricted to 159/7 in 20 overs, with Naman Dhir's half-century emerging as the lone positive. CSK then chased down the target comfortably, reaching the total with 11 balls to spare and eight wickets in hand.
Despite boasting star players such as Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, and Tilak Varma, Mumbai's campaign has been nothing short of disastrous, raising serious questions about leadership, team balance, and management decisions.
Renowned commentator Harsha Bhogle took to X (formerly Twitter) to analyse what may have gone wrong for Hardik Pandya and his team in IPL 2026.
"I must confess I didn't see a team, as studded with stars as #MumbaiIndians  is, come apart like this. The only possible indicator could have been that, Bumrah apart, the others hadn't had an outstanding T20WC. But nobody could have predicted this. I had thought aloud about a hypothesis on my YT channel that reputation is becoming a burden in modern T20 cricket as a possible reason," Bhogle wrote.
He also questioned whether internal alignment was lacking. "I don't know if all the forces within were aligned but that could be another. And the experiment with Hardik Pandya as captain is now 3 years old and it has delivered a play-off only once so maybe something isn't working there. But I bet nobody saw #MI not making the play-offs," he added.
Meanwhile, former India batter Manoj Tiwary defended Hardik Pandya, stating that it would be unfair to pin the blame solely on the skipper.
"When I analyse what I see, it feels like no one is standing with Hardik. A captain needs the confidence and backing of the entire group, and that support just doesn't seem to be there," Tiwary said on Cricbuzz.
Mumbai Indians
Chennai Super Kings
Hardik Pandya