Hardik Pandya to stay as MI captain despite dismal IPL 2026 campaign, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma warned

Mumbai Indians aren’t in any hurry to replace Hardik Pandya as the captain despite managing to win just 3 out of matches so far in the Indian Premier League (IPL 2026). The five-time champions made a surprise call back in 2024 when they decided to trade the all-rounder from GT and replace Rohit Sharma as the captain. His first season as skipper was miserable, the second one a little more tolerable, while the third one has been disastrous so far. However, despite the results, Pandya is reportedly backed by the MI management to retain captaincy.

Hardik Pandya to remain MI captain

As per The Indian Express, MI do not view the team’s struggles as a result of Hardik’s captaincy, and instead are expecting few key players to step up and deliver on the expectations. The report claims that the team has been slow in adapting to the evolving nature of the tournament. Pandya, who first led GT before moving to MI, has managed to win 37 out of the 68 games that he has led as captain, while losing 31.

“The franchise management continues to back Pandya and does not see the team’s struggles as a reflection of his leadership. Instead, they believe MI have been slow to adapt to the evolving style of play in the tournament,” the report states.

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Well, it is true that MI’s key players have been underperformig, and that has led to the star-studded side losing majority of their games. Rohit Sharma, who was the hero of the previous game, has scored 221 runs from 5 matches, at an average of 55.25. He missed some games due to a hamstring injury but made sure he created an impact on his return. India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav has been abyssmal, scoring just 195 runs from 10 matches, and is the biggest headache for MI in IPL 2026. Repeated failures mean that it won’t be long before MI decide to drop him from the playing XI. Tilak Varma has been poor as well, managing to score just 204 runs from 10 matches, being a complete let-down for the side in the middle-order. Although he has a century to his name in the ongoing season, Tilak has been highly inconsistent.

While bowlers like Ashwani Kumar, Allah Ghazanfar among others have been faring well, it is Jasprit Bumrah who has not met the expectations in this season. He has taken just 3 wickets from 10 matches. Overall, some of these key players who are underperforming has cost MI a lot in this season. And, that is what the team management thinks too, as per reports.

“The management remains confident that the team can turn things around in the remaining matches. The belief within the camp is that a few strong performances from key players could quickly change their position on the table,” the report added.

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