Kamal Ghorui
Mumbai Indians managed to stay mathematically alive in IPL 2026 on Monday, but the writing is on the wall for the five-time champions as they face another season – the fourth in the last six years – without making the playoffs. The body language of the players and the support staff reflects the long, painful summer the franchise has endured.For a team that has struggled to just three wins out of ten matches, minute fine-tuning won’t help; a complete overhaul of the dressing room – which hasn’t been the warmest place since Hardik Pandya took over the captaincy from Rohit Sharma – is needed. It is understood that the management was happy to remain patient after the initial turbulence following the captaincy change, but patience isn’t their best friend at the moment, as another wooden spoon finish looms large in IPL 2026.MI benefitted from BCCI’s new retention policy ahead of the 2025 mega auction, which allowed them to retain their ‘core’: Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma and Tilak Varma. Even other teams used the maximum retention slots, but MI were probably the only franchise that could sit at the auction table knowing half their Playing XI was sorted.So what went wrong for a team that boasts superstars, leaders and four players who have led India at some point?‘Team’ is the keyword here because it is learned that the franchise is still navigating an unsettled dressing room following the captaincy change and has consistently struggled to present a united front. For a team that took pride in winning contests out of nowhere, a perfect “team performance” has been missing for a few seasons now. There have been flashes of individual brilliance, but they haven’t been enough to add a sixth title to the cabinet.Even after the management made it clear that Hardik is the captain for the foreseeable future, some individuals are either holding onto captaincy ambitions or promoting young players to take over the mantle. A senior player has been managing an undisclosed injury for a couple of seasons, and some are happy to take it easy, even if it means missing nearly a month of competitive cricket.On paper, the MI camp in IPL 2026 has no shortage of superstars and utility players, but they have been tactically exposed as the think tank still struggles to determine their ideal Playing XI. Constant injuries haven’t helped, nor has inconsistency from the ‘core’.Tilak, strongly projected as the franchise’s future leader, has only had one 400-plus run season in five editions. His good friend Suryakumar Yadav had a phenomenal 2025 but has carried his poor international form into the IPL 2026, sitting at just 195 runs from 10 innings. Two crucial pieces of the middle order not firing haven’t helped, and neither has Hardik Pandya’s underwhelming returns with the bat – 146 runs in eight innings.Rohit Sharma had a bright start to the season before a hamstring injury ruled him out for nearly a month. Yet his inconsistency isn’t recent; the right-hander’s only 500-plus run season for the franchise came in the 2013 edition.MI takes great pride in retaining its players for as long as possible, but with the game evolving at a rapid pace, the think tank needs to do better to be one step ahead. Convinced by their methods, they entered last year’s mini-auction with a very small purse. They seemed happy with the players at their disposal and backed their strategies – a powerplay dominated by swing and one left-arm pacer. Reality, however, hit them hard as the opposition batters easily swung away Deepak Chahar’s and Trent Boult’s deliveries. Even Jasprit Bumrah’s mastery went missing as there was no support for the world’s premier fast bowler.The next mega auction is an opportunity for the franchise to fix the mistakes made at the auction table, but the immediate need is to set the house in order and restore normalcy in the dressing room. Wholesome changes are needed now, and it’s high time the management makes the tough calls on players whose personal interests and ambition do not contribute to the team’s cause.
