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Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has said that people are wrongly blaming Mumbai Indians’ struggles in IPL 2026 solely on their captain Hardik Pandya.
MI was one of the early teams to fall out of the playoff race in this year’s IPL. Hardik’s poor form along with many other stalwarts has increased MI’s troubles this year. With just 4 wins from 12 matches, MI are placed ninth in the IPL 2026 points table.
Mumbai Indians are struggling for form
For the first time since 2012, MI managed to win in their season opener when they successfully chased 221 against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium. From there, Hardik Pandya’s team reached a critical situation after losing four consecutive matches. In 2025, the team won only 1 of its first five matches before winning 7 of its last 9 matches to make the playoffs.
This could not happen this year. MI snapped their four-match losing streak, but lost three consecutive matches immediately after their 99-run win against Gujarat Titans. MI also managed to chase 229 against Lucknow Super Giants, but a last-ball defeat to Royal Challengers Bangalore knocked them out of the tournament.
Hardik Pandya’s controversial tenure as captain
Hardik Pandya’s tenure as Mumbai Indians captain has been extremely controversial. He led GT to the title in 2022 and finished runners-up in 2023 before joining MI as captain in 2024. That year, MI finished last in the points table.
As mentioned earlier, MI made their impressive comeback in 2025 and were essentially two wins away from winning the IPL title. In 2026, there was a lot of criticism regarding Hardik Pandya’s captaincy and the poor results of the team. Pandya’s own poor form has not helped his case.
If the team does not respond then the captain cannot do anything – Ravi Ashwin
Ravichandran Ashwin has now dropped his honest opinion on Hardik Pandya and MI’s struggle. He was asked what role a team’s poor form plays in the impact it has on its captain. Speaking to ESPN Cricinfo, he said, “You want honesty in this? Chennai Super Kings won the IPL in 2023. What kind of impact did MS have? [Dhoni] As a batsman in the tournament?”
“We are just looking for excuses to blame the captain. MS really led the team very well that year. I think he had Tushar Deshpande that season. He took the best out of Tushar, fielding on one side of the pitch,” he said.
“I’m sure captaincy plays a role; there’s no doubt about that. But when the team is not responding, what do you really do? Because it’s not just the captain’s job to answer to every player. The captain can’t knock on every single door. It’s a job [that] Sometimes, the support staff will also have to cater,” he adds.
“And this year, Mumbai, for whatever reason, has not found a way to respond to its players. What that is, we have no clue from the outside. Only the internal operations will know what has gone wrong,” he concluded.
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