Whenever a team struggles, the captain ends up facing all the criticism. Hardik Pandya, being the captain of the Mumbai Indians, has faced the same in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 campaign. After MI faced their seventh defeat of the season, losing to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Saturday, Hardik Pandya once again faced criticism. However, former India batter Manoj Tiwary feels it isn’t fair as well.
“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 while speaking on Cricbuzz
“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 further added.
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However, the Mumbai Indians remain one of the best teams on paper, with international captains like Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, and Hardik Pandya in the squad as well. In fact, Jasprit Bumrah has also led India in Test cricket. Yet, they look out of form as well.
Meanwhile, former India spinner Murali Kartik also 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.
