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Mumbai Indians are once again looking at a major leadership change, and this time, Hardik Pandya’s captaincy future does not look secure.
After another disappointing IPL season where MI failed to qualify for the playoffs and finished ninth on the points table, reports have now claimed that the franchise is seriously considering removing Hardik Pandya as captain ahead of IPL 2027.
The five-time champions entered IPL 2026 with huge expectations. Mumbai Indians retained most of their core and once again backed the all-rounder, but the results got worse.
Hardik Pandya will be removed from the post of captain of Mumbai Indians – report
According to a report in The Indian Express, Pandya’s reign as Mumbai Indians captain is about to end after the team’s poor IPL 2026 campaign.
The report claims that Mumbai Indians may snatch the captaincy from Hardik Pandya after internal discussions within the franchise. The report quoted multiple sources in the MI setup as saying that there were already indications during the season that the management was not completely confident about Hardik continuing as captain.
The report further mentions that the Mumbai Indians coaching staff had a strong message for the senior players after the team’s last game against Rajasthan Royals.
Reportedly, the discussion within the franchise is not just about captaincy. Hardik Pandya’s place in the team may also come under scrutiny.
Why is Hardik Pandya being removed from captaincy?
The biggest reason behind this alleged decision is simple. Mumbai Indians have been a complete failure in the last three IPL seasons.
Pandya’s first season as captain in IPL 2024 turned into a nightmare. Mumbai Indians finished bottom of the table with just four wins from 14 matches and finished the season with eight points.
The franchise was hoping that things would improve in IPL 2025 and for a brief period they looked really dangerous. Mumbai Indians reached the playoffs with 16 points after winning eight matches. But despite qualifying, they never looked like a major team to win the title.
Then came IPL 2026, which again completely derailed everything. Mumbai Indians lost 10 of their 14 league matches and finished ninth on the points table with only eight points. Their bowling struggled badly throughout the season, the batting looked stale compared to teams like Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals and tactically, MI often appeared confused.
Perhaps what hurt the franchise the most was the fact that many of the teams around them developed rapidly, while Mumbai Indians looked stuck in the past, and failed to keep pace, despite having some of the biggest names in world cricket.
The same report also highlighted how MI struggled to maximize the powerplay compared to successful teams.
Hardik Pandya alone cannot be blamed for everything as Mumbai Indians had problems in various departments. But when a captain wins only 15 out of 39 matches in three seasons, questions are bound to arise.
Hardik Pandya’s record as captain of Mumbai Indians
Hardik Pandya’s captaincy record with Mumbai Indians reads bad. The all-rounder has captained Mumbai Indians in 39 matches between IPL 2024 and IPL 2026. Out of those 39 matches, MI managed to win only 15 matches, while losing 24.
This gives Hardik a win percentage of just 38.46%, the lowest for a full-time Mumbai Indians captain in IPL history.
For comparison, Rohit Sharma led Mumbai Indians in 163 matches and won 91 of them with a win percentage of 55.82%. Sachin Tendulkar’s record as MI captain was also much better and he won 32 of his 55 matches.
Pandya’s numbers become even more worrying when viewed alongside Mumbai Indians’ title drought. The franchise has now gone six consecutive seasons without winning an IPL trophy, which is their joint-longest barren run in the history of the tournament.
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