By Admin 
Now it is not possible for Mumbai Indians to go to the playoffs. With the 2-wicket defeat at the hands of RCB last Sunday, Mumbai team was out of IPL 2026. One of the main reasons for this poor performance was attributed to captain Hardik Pandya. Hardik is sitting out of the last 2 matches, yet MI team could not perform any amazingly.
After this poor performance of Mumbai and being eliminated from the playoff race, Hardik’s captaincy is under the scanner the most. Here, know about three reasons due to which Hardik may not be the captain of Mumbai Indians next season.
Three seasons, no trophy
Mumbai Indians traded Hardik Pandya to Gujarat Titans in 2024. When Rohit Sharma was removed and handed over the captaincy, the intention of MI management was clear that it was seeing a long-term captain in Hardik. But the results have come contrary to expectations, because under the captaincy of Hardik, MI has not won the trophy for three consecutive seasons and has reached the playoffs only once. Continuous failure may force MI management to take a tough decision of changing the captain.
persistent fitness problems
Fitness related problems do not leave Hardik Pandya. This is the reason why he does not play Test cricket and now back pain has started troubling him even in white ball cricket. This phrase of ‘workload management’ remains much discussed because of Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah. It is said that due to Hardik’s fitness related problems, he did not get the captaincy of the Indian T20 team. Now Hardik may have to face the same situation in Mumbai Indians team also.
Also read: Did Hardik Pandya really unfollow Mumbai Indians? Know the whole truth of viral news
Bad decisions and poor personal performance as captain
One of the main reasons for the poor performance of Mumbai Indians in IPL 2026 has been the bad decisions taken by captain Hardik. Cricket experts have been targeting him throughout the season for setting poor fielding and not using the bowlers properly. On the other hand, his individual performance has been very poor, as in IPL 2026 he has scored only 146 runs in eight matches and has taken only 4 wickets in bowling.
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