Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: ‘Not the season, I feel’ – the dejection on Hardik Pandya’s face was evident as Mumbai Indians suffered another loss in IPL 2026, this time against Chennai Super Kings. Mumbai Indians’ hopes of qualifying for the playoffs now hang by a thread following an emphatic eight-wicket defeat. They are languishing in ninth place with just two wins from nine matches and only four points.A star-studded Mumbai Indians side, featuring players like Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah, has five IPL titles to its name and is known for dominating opposition teams, but is struggling at the moment.There is no Mumbai Indians batter or bowler in the top five of the leading run-scorers or wicket-takers list in IPL 2026.After Mumbai Indians slumped to their seventh defeat this season, former India cricketer Manoj Tiwary feels Pandya, who took over the captaincy in 2024, has not received the support from teammates that he would have wanted.“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 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 added.Former India spinner Murali Kartik also believes IPL 2026 is all but over for Mumbai Indians.“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,” Kartik said on Cricbuzz.“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.
