Less than a fortnight ago, PTI reported that three captains could lose their roles at the end of IPL 2026. The report did not mention Hardik Pandya, despite it emerging within days of Mumbai Indians being knocked out of the playoff race. But that did not necessarily mean Hardik was immune from an internal review. Batting coach Kieron Pollard’s comments on Sunday, at the end of what has been a disastrous season for the five-time champions, suggested that the Mumbai skipper is very much under the scanner after another disappointing campaign as captain.
The 30-run loss to the Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday was Mumbai’s 10th defeat of the season as they finished ninth in the points table, just above the Lucknow Super Giants, who also managed only four wins in 14 league games but ended with an inferior net run rate.
This was also the second time under Hardik’s captaincy that Mumbai failed to qualify for the playoffs, having finished bottom of the table in 2024 before making Qualifier 2 in the 2025 season.
ALSO READ: The most purposeless match of IPL 2026: an anti-climactic KKR-DC end to the league phase
Speaking to reporters after Mumbai’s final league game of IPL 2026, Pollard admitted that Hardik’s leadership stint “has not gone as well” as either the player or the franchise would have hoped.
{{/usCountry}}Speaking to reporters after Mumbai’s final league game of IPL 2026, Pollard admitted that Hardik’s leadership stint “has not gone as well” as either the player or the franchise would have hoped.
{{/usCountry}}“From a leadership perspective on Hardik, yes, it has not gone as well as he would have wanted as an individual,” he said. “It might not have gone the way we as a management group would have wanted either. But one thing you should know is that we tried everything possible to give him the best opportunity to lead the franchise and succeed.”
However, Pollard refused to single out captaincy as the sole reason behind Mumbai’s poor campaign, insisting it was a collective failure.
“No one is going to sit here and point fingers or place blame. When you lose, especially, you have to look at it collectively. You win some, you lose some. But at the end of the day, I wouldn’t question the effort,” he said.
“He (Pandya) was trying; we all were trying, and it just didn’t work out for us. You sit down, you talk, and you figure out what is best moving forward. You never know what is going to happen. Right now, we just need time to lick our wounds and hopefully come back stronger over the next 12 months,” Pollard added.
The former West Indies all-rounder also hinted that Mumbai would conduct an internal review on certain aspects, while making it clear that the franchise would not rush into drastic changes ahead of next season.
“Right now is not the time or place to talk about that,” he said when asked whether Mumbai needed a reboot given the number of senior players in the squad.
“All these decisions can become emotional if taken immediately. Everyone needs time and space to sit down, reflect properly and fairly assess where things actually went wrong for us. That is where better decision-making comes from. If you sit here right now and say you need to do this or that, it would be irresponsible from a management perspective,” he added.