Following a seven-wicket defeat to Punjab Kings, Mumbai Indians registered their fourth consecutive defeat in IPL 2026. Celebrated batters such as Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma have struggled heavily in the competition so far, while ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah is yet to clinch a wicket this season. Trent Boultโs poor form was also concerning, leading to the team management dropping him from the heavyweight clash against Punjab. On top of that, former captain Rohit Sharma complained of a hamstring injury and was out of the clash as well.
Needless to say, the Hardik Pandya-led side is in a dire situation at the moment. None of their plans has worked so far, as they find themselves ninth on the points table, with just one win on the board. Analysing the situation, former cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin noted that the players could be suffering from fatigue after the T20 World Cup 2026 and added that the bowling unit has let them down so far.ย ย
“I am now feeling that the fatigue after the T20 World Cup might be taking a toll for Mumbai Indians. I donโt see how they are going to come out of this. There are too many question marks on the bowling department. Previously, they used to get outplayed, but now it looks like they have no answers with the ball. I feel a bit sorry,โ Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
Pandya indicates changes
After the defeat to Punjab, Pandya asked the players to take more ownership and also indicated at making changes to the playing XI if things fail to improve. His words are seen as an indirect jab at Suryakumar and Tilak, who are currently struggling in the middle.
โTo be very honest, I don’t have much to say right now. We 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 harsh questions which eventually we need to answer,โ Pandya stated.
Mumbai will play their upcoming match on April 19 against Gujarat Titans and another defeat could very well end their race to the playoffs.ย
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