Hardik Pandya comes under scrutiny after the Mumbai Indians’ losses in IPL 2026

Hardik Pandya has been asked to step down as IPL captain and hand the captaincy to Rohit Sharma.

After a dismal start to the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season, Mumbai Indians (MI)captain Hardik Pandya has come under scrutiny. The team has won only one of its five matches thus far and has thus languished second from the bottom of the points table.

Hardik Pandya faces criticism after consistent losses of MI in IPL 2026.

On Thursday, the 5-time champions were brushed aside at home by ShreyasIyer’s Punjab Kings (PBKS), marking their 4th defeat of the campaign. MI’s lone victory this season came against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Wankhede Stadium on March 29. Speaking on Cricbuzz, former India batter Manoj Tiwary slammed Hardik Pandya’s captaincy against PBKS. He argued that the all-rounder’s leadership has been below par since he took charge of the franchise. Tiwary said, “From where will ownership come? One has to look at oneself as well. You need to see how you have been playing. According to me, just because you are not having success this year doesn’t mean the mistakes happened only this year. You need to look at the root cause as well. From 2015-2023, Rohit Sharma helped the Mumbai Indians win several trophies.” He even urged Hardik to relinquish the captaincy and return it to Rohit Sharma, noting that the veteran batter led the franchise to five titles between 2013 and 2023.

“When you removed Rohit, you did an injustice.”

Manoj Tiwary added, “In 2023, there was no trophy. In 2024, there was no trophy, and the chances of the same happening are high this year too. I think the captaincy is weak. I don’t want to be harsh. But Hardik is not leading the team the way it should be. It’s very important to be proactive as a captain. I think that if a solution is needed, Hardik should step back from the captaincy and hand the responsibility back to Rohit. When you removed Rohit, you did an injustice.” He went ahead, slamming Hardik and said, “Hardik shouldn’t have promoted himself against the Punjab Kings. He scored 14 runs off 12 balls. Sherfane Rutherford just got five balls. If Rutherford had played as many balls, he would have hit 3-4 sixes. Hardik Pandya thought he could do it. Yes, he could have done it. You should have pushed Rutherford up. And secondly, there is no point in giving JaspritBumrah the second over when you are not giving him the first. Deepak Chahar just isn’t able to swing the ball.”