Mumbai Indians are under the pump. On paper a strong side that should have been in the top four. On the field, a crisis-hit side that is feeling the heat of an elimination and languishing at the bottom of the 10-team points table.
When MI started their 2026 campaign, they broke the streak of losing their season openers since 2013. A victory over a struggling Kolkata Knight Riders signalled things would be good for the five-time champions this year. But they have fallen off the pack. A fourth consecutive loss this season to the Punjab Kings forced their mostly cool-headed captain, Hardik Pandya, to take a much stricter route.ย
“To be very honest, I don’t have much to say right now. I think we really need to go back to the drawing board and see where we are lacking. Is it individuals? Is it as a group? Is it as planning? We’ll just figure it out and see what we can do next,” Hardik had said after his team failed to defend 195 despite Quinton de Kock scoring a hundred.ย
‘Ownership has to be taken’: Hardik
Hardik was blunt in his response in the post-match presentation. He went on to state that the management needs to decide what to do, and the players need to take ownership of the losses. “We really need to see, do we need to make some difficult calls, or do we need to keep continuing and hope that we’ll turn things around. These are some hard questions which eventually we need to answer, and yeah, ownership has to be taken,” he further added.
What has been ailing MI this season?
It looks like a combination of everything, but mostly their bowling. The team is overreliant on Jasprit Bumrah, who has not taken a single wicket this season but has been economical, having gone at 8.63 an over. MI are the worst bowling side in terms of economy this season. They are going at 11.34 an over, while the next worst are Chennai Super Kings, going at 10.2 an over.ย
MI’s bowling average is also the worst this season. They have leaked 54 runs for a wicket, while the next worst is of the Punjab Kings, who are much better than MI at 33.66 runs/wicket.
Stats reflect what is happening on the field
The stats don’t lie. MI have been struggling big time with the ball on the field. They were smashed for 150 in 11 overs against Rajasthan Royals in a rain-hit match, were pummelled for 240 by Royal Challengers Bengaluru and failed to defend 195 against PBKS, who chased the target down in 16.3 overs.
MI have also been troubled with the inconsistent batting outings. They were restricted to 195 against the Kings and found it hard to go past 162/6 on a sluggish Delhi pitch against the Delhi Capitals earlier.ย
All of this has compounded to haunt MI for an early exit this year. They are up against the Gujarat Titans now, who have won their last three matches in a row. But the blessing in disguise for MI can be that GT are not a modern T20 batting machine and is slightly bent towards the old-school T20 cricket, relying heavily on their top three.
As GT call, MI will need to find answers and come out of the crisis. They are a strong side on paper, but the pressure is mounting very high.