Mumbai Indians kept their IPL 2026 survival hopes flickering on Monday, but the overall picture is increasingly bleak for the five-time champions. With another season already set to be the fourth time in six years that they fail to reach the playoffs, there is a growing sense that the franchise’s summer of struggle is not just on the scoreboard—it is visible in the way players and support staff carry themselves. After registering only three wins from ten matches, the fine adjustments that teams usually make are unlikely to be enough; what MI likely need is a more fundamental reset in their dressing room, which has rarely felt settled since Hardik Pandya took over the captaincy role from Rohit Sharma.
The franchise did have a major advantage going into the 2025 mega auction period, thanks to the BCCI’s updated retention approach. That framework enabled MI to hold onto their “core” group—Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma and Tilak Varma—giving them a degree of certainty that many rivals could not match. Even though other franchises also used their maximum retention slots, MI stood out as the side that could step into the auction with a large portion of their Playing XI already mapped out.
But the key question remains: with the kind of talent MI have—superstars, established leaders, and multiple players who have represented India at various stages—how did things go so wrong? The answer appears to lie in the word “team.” Reports suggest MI are still wrestling with an unsettled environment after the captaincy change, and that has repeatedly made it difficult to show a fully united front. For a franchise that has often been defined by sudden bursts of success, the consistent “team performance” required to win titles has been missing for a few seasons now. There have been moments when individuals have sparkled, yet those flashes have not been enough to push MI toward a sixth championship.
Even after the management made it clear that Hardik would remain captain for the foreseeable future, there are signs that some players are either nurturing captaincy ambitions or trying to build a pathway for younger teammates to take over. Alongside that, a senior member of the squad has reportedly been managing an undisclosed injury for a couple of seasons, and there has also been talk of certain individuals taking a more relaxed approach—so much so that it has at times meant missing close to a month of competitive cricket. Meanwhile, persistent rumours that the “core” group is not getting along are said to be dragging down the team culture.
On paper, the MI setup in IPL 2026 looks stacked with star power and flexible role players. The problem is that the unit has looked tactically exposed because the internal leadership still appears to be searching for the ideal combination of their Playing XI. Injuries have compounded the issue, while inconsistency from the “core” has prevented MI from building momentum. Tilak Varma, who has been strongly viewed as the franchise’s future leader, has produced only one season with 400-plus runs across five editions so far. Suryakumar Yadav, who delivered a brilliant 2025, has struggled to transfer his international form into the IPL 2026 campaign, managing just 195 runs from 10 innings. Two key middle-order segments failing to click has further hurt their balance, and Hardik Pandya’s own batting output has not provided the lift MI would expect—he has scored 146 runs in eight innings.
Rohit Sharma, too, had started the season well before a hamstring problem forced him out for nearly a month. Yet his inconsistency is not a new trend; the only time he has managed a 500-plus run season for the franchise came back in the 2013 edition. MI’s reputation for hanging onto players for as long as possible has been a strength, but with T20 cricket evolving at a rapid pace, the franchise’s decision-making and planning need to move faster and stay sharper than the competition.
The shortcomings also trace back to last year’s mini-auction period. MI entered with a relatively small purse and appeared satisfied with the squad they had assembled, backing their strategy: a powerplay built around swing bowling and the presence of one left-arm pacer. However, the plan did not hold up against opponents who were able to target and punish deliveries from Deepak Chahar and Trent Boult. Even Jasprit Bumrah—widely regarded as the world’s premier fast bowler—did not get the kind of support needed around him, which limited MI’s ability to repeatedly take control of matches.
With the next mega auction approaching, MI will have an opportunity to correct some of the decisions made at the auction table. Still, the immediate requirement is more urgent: sort out the dressing room, restore a sense of normalcy, and make sure the team environment supports performance. If the franchise wants to avoid another painful season slipping by, it is going to need wholesome changes now—and it may have to be willing to take difficult calls on players whose personal priorities and ambitions are not aligned with what the team needs to move forward.
