Jayawardene's sharp comeback on Mumbai Indians failing to win IPL in last 5 years: ‘Some teams haven’t won in forever'

Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene spoke about the franchise failing to win an IPL trophy in the last five years.

Updated on: Apr 3, 2026, 16:01:37 IST

Written by Vishesh Roy

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The Mumbai Indians are one of the most successful franchises in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL). With five titles in their cabinet, Mumbai, along with Chennai Super Kings (CSK), have won the tournament the joint most number of times. However, it is also a fact that ever since the win in the 2020 edition, the team has struggled in the competition, failing to win the tournament in the last five years. Mumbai has made the playoffs only twice in the last five years, finishing at the bottom of the points table twice (2022 and 2024).

Mumbai Indians will next face off against the Delhi Capitals on Saturday. (Sportz Asia)

However, head coach Mahela Jayawardene isn't too bothered about recent history, saying his team has won five titles, which is a lot to boast about, considering how some teams haven't won the IPL. It is worth noting that the Delhi Capitals, Punjab Kings and Lucknow Super Giants are yet to open their account in terms of IPL trophy victories.

“10 teams makes it even harder competition. But I think in the last 5 years, we were in the playoffs 2 or 3 times, if I am not mistaken. So that means we had our opportunities in just that last bit. I don't know how to answer this properly. In a competition like this, you have to take one game at a time and go through the process. As a team, we know that we have done well consistently over a period of time,” Jayawardene told reporters at the pre-match press conference on Friday ahead of the fixture against the Delhi Capitals.

“We just need to continue to trust that process and keep playing good cricket. And we will get there. And how we have been successful is by doing the same thing. So I don't see why we need to do something different. But as long as we keep pushing ourselves to the limit in every game and have the same attitude on and off the field to be a better team, a better franchise. I think the results will take care of themselves. Rather than putting ourselves under pressure at the beginning of the season. Saying we haven't won it for 4 years. But some teams haven't won it forever either. So we are not rubbing it in. But with all due respect, we just thought that we would trust our process. And work on ourselves on how we need to go about it,” he added.

Also Read: Yuvraj Singh plays devil's advocate in Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for World Cup debate: ‘When will you groom Jaiswal?’

The captaincy baton was also passed from Rohit Sharma to Hardik Pandya before the 2024 edition of the tournament. All wasn't hunky dory that season, and it's well documented. However, in the IPL 2026 edition, Mumbai, led by Hardik, are the firm favourites to win the silverware and win the tournament for the sixth time. The presence of Rohit, Hardik, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Tilak Varma makes Mumbai the team to look out for.

Mumbai Indians' good start

For the first time in 13 years, the Mumbai Indians won their opening match of the season after defeating the Kolkata Knight Riders by six wickets at the Wankhede Stadium on March 29. Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickelton hit half-centuries as the five-time champions chased down the target of 221 with five balls to spare.

The franchise will next face the Delhi Capitals on Saturday, April 4, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Vishesh Roy
Vishesh Roy is a sports journalist with a strong focus on cricket. He began his career at Asian News International (ANI), where he covered a range of high-profile events, including the India Open, Legends Cricket League, the England–India Test series in Ahmedabad in 2021, and the inauguration of the Narendra Modi Stadium. During his tenure at ANI, he also reported extensively on domestic cricket, covering several Ranji Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy matches across the country. While cricket remains his primary beat, Vishesh has also reported on tennis, football and WWE. After a stint of over three years at ANI, Vishesh moved to NDTV, where he gained hands-on experience in digital-first journalism, with a particular emphasis on live blogs and real-time news reporting. He joined Hindustan Times in October 2024 and quickly established himself with a series of exclusive interviews and source-driven stories. Ahead of the IPL 2025 auction, Hindustan Times was the first to report that the two-day event would be held in Saudi Arabia. In the early months of his tenure, Vishesh secured interviews with leading cricketers, including Pat Cummins, Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Rashid Latif. He has also closely tracked the rise of emerging talents such as Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Priyansh Arya by speaking to their current and childhood coaches. His background in on-field reporting has helped Hindustan Times Digital break exclusive stories on major developments, including Virat Kohli’s return to the Ranji and Vijay Hazare Trophy, IPL scheduling, and the T20 World Cup controversy involving Bangladesh and Pakistan.Read More

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