Expectations around the Mumbai Indians are never modest, but IPL 2026 delivered a season that felt distinctly underwhelming for the franchise’s five-time winners. Between Jasprit Bumrah’s inability to regularly strike with the ball, Suryakumar Yadav’s quiet run with the bat, and questions surrounding Hardik Pandya’s captaincy, MI’s campaign drifted until they ended up down in ninth place on the points table. Their final outing only deepened the disappointment, with a defeat to the Rajasthan Royals despite a strong position in the match at one stage.
Quick facts
- MI finished IPL 2026 in the ninth spot on the points table.
- Mumbai lost their last league match to the Rajasthan Royals.
- In the final game, MI needed 60 runs off 34 balls but were restricted to 175/9 after a lower-order collapse.
- MI were 148/5 at one stage, with Hardik and Suryakumar in the middle overs.
- Ravichandran Ashwin criticised MI’s overall show and pointed to concerns around Hardik’s handling of the hard-length ball.
- Ashwin also cited Jasprit Bumrah’s bowling average of over 100 in the season.
- Ashwin noted that Bumrah is the first bowler in IPL history to play a full season and average above 100.
Mumbai’s chase began with real momentum at the Wankhede Stadium. They reached 148/5, and with Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav set in the middle, it looked like the result might be routine from there. Instead, wickets kept falling as the innings lost rhythm, and the innings ultimately ended at 175/9.
The turning point came when the chase demanded acceleration. With 60 runs still needed from 34 balls, MI had the kind of target that often gets chased down—yet they were unable to convert pressure into runs. The collapse in the lower order ensured that even a promising platform could not carry them to the win.
Ravichandran Ashwin, who has been outspoken about what he sees on the field, made his displeasure clear when discussing Mumbai’s campaign. In a video uploaded to his YouTube channel, he argued that MI typically manage such chases, but that this time the match swung against them in key moments.
“At the Wankhede Stadium, if you need 60 runs off 34 balls, I think Mumbai Indians would usually chase it down. But the problem was… yes, that’s where things went wrong,” Ashwin said. He added that Hardik looked sharp in the match, including against spin, and drew a comparison to how Hardik used to bat earlier in his career.
Ashwin pointed out that during his Gujarat Titans days, Hardik often occupied the number four or number five slot and had a clear track record of taking on spinners. In this match, Ashwin felt that while Hardik did strike well, the overall tempo required for the finish never fully arrived.
From Ashwin’s perspective, the larger issue is that the side has appeared “strange” under Hardik this year. He acknowledged that some players have dealt with injuries, but said that even those who were available often didn’t look like themselves. That combination, in his view, has been a major reason MI have struggled to find consistency.
He went further, suggesting that MI may not instantly turn the corner even with time. “I think I said it in the commentary box too,” Ashwin added. “Hardik looks like he has a small problem with the hard-length ball. I don’t know why—could be fatigue, could be an injury. I said something about this last time too.”
Ashwin also described how the dismissals reflected the same concern. He referenced Hardik getting out after miscuing a short, slower ball from Jofra Archer, saying the partnership between Hardik and Surya might have been able to chase the target if MI had found the burst of runs required. Instead, acceleration remained out of reach.
“This Mumbai Indians team felt a bit strange,” Ashwin said. He added that, given the quality in their squad, a return to form is possible, but he wouldn’t be shocked if MI face another difficult year. Ashwin suggested the team structure and roles might be leaving multiple players away from their best level, which has made the season feel disappointing overall.
He concluded that the campaign has been “very disappointing,” and warned that even a middling performance next year might not come as a surprise. In short, his message was that the problems don’t appear to be isolated to one match—they look embedded in how the side has been operating.
Ashwin then widened the criticism to Mumbai’s bowling, singling out Jasprit Bumrah. He stressed that Bumrah wasn’t part of the contest against Rajasthan Royals and noted how that absence shaped the context of the match. “Jasprit Bumrah wasn’t playing today either. It was never going to be easy,” Ashwin said, before adding that Rajasthan had done what was needed to win.
He also highlighted a striking season statistic tied to Bumrah’s struggles. Ashwin pointed out that it was the first time in IPL history that a bowler has completed a full season and ended with an average above 100—and said that bowler was Bumrah. “If I had told anyone this…” Ashwin said, underscoring how unusual and damaging the numbers have been for Mumbai’s leader in the bowling attack.
