Mumbai Indians Called Out For Lack Of Support For Hardik Pandya: "No One Standing With Him"
With Mumbai Indians placed 9th in the points table, captain Hardik Pandya has had to face plenty of criticism.
- Hardik Pandya faces criticism as Mumbai Indians lost their seventh match in IPL 2026
- Manoj Tiwary said Pandya lacks adequate support from teammates during poor campaign
- "Feels like no one is standing with Hardik. The support he needs simply isn't there," said Tiwary
Whenever a team struggles, the captain ends up taking the bulk of the criticism. Hardik Pandya, being the captain of Mumbai Indians, has remained in the line of fire for almost the entire Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 campaign. After MI suffered their seventh defeat of the season, losing to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Saturday, Hardik found it tough to evade criticism. However, former India batter Manoj Tiwary feels it isn't fair for Hardik to be labelled as the primary reason behind the team's poor show this campaign, as he has not received the sort of support from teammates that he would have wanted.
Tiwary, speaking on Cricbuzz, did not mince his words as he stressed that Mumbai's IPL 2026 campaign is already over. He also expressed sympathy for Hardik, saying the MI skipper has had to stand alone all this while, with little to no support from others when it comes to taking the heat for the team's failures.
"It was already over for me. When I sit here, I speak openly about what I see. Based on the cricket I've witnessed, a captain must win the confidence of every player; you have to be a leader. However, it feels like no one is standing with Hardik. The support he needs simply isn't there," Tiwary said.
"Yes, the captain has a role, and in my opinion, he isn't playing well. But beyond that, the other players must take responsibility. For instance, Surya is not performing consistently on a daily basis, and Tilak hasn't maintained his form after one good match. With that kind of inconsistency from the squad, how can you produce results? It's very disappointing," he added.
Mumbai Indians remain one of the most decorated teams on paper, with international captains like Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, and Hardik Pandya in the roster. In fact, Jasprit Bumrah has also captained India in Test cricket. Yet, the team has looked out of sorts in terms of strategy, struggling to come up with alternative plans when met with adversity.
Former India spinner Murali Kartik, also on the panel during the discussion, was asked about the remainder of MI's campaign in IPL 2026. He said that the season for the five-time champions is 99.9999% over.
"Look, you have five matches left. I'm saying forget who you are playing against-even if you win five out of five, you only reach 14 points. If you look at the table now, PBKS, RCB, SRH, and RR are all sitting around 12 or 13 points. Even if those teams only win two or three more games, they will remain ahead.
"Even if Mumbai wins every remaining match, 14 is their ceiling. Meanwhile, the top four teams still have games in hand. Punjab Kings have six matches left; RCB and SRH have five; Rajasthan has four. There would need to be a massive shift for MI to qualify. As it stands, the other teams are well ahead, and even GT is struggling to climb up from the bottom. I would say the campaign is 99.999% over," he concluded.
Mumbai Indians
Chennai Super Kings
Hardik Pandya
Manoj Tiwary
Murali Kartik