Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has said that people have been unfairly pinning the Mumbai Indians' struggles in IPL 2026 solely on their captain, Hardik Pandya.
MI were among the earliest teams to be eliminated from playoff contention in this year's IPL. The poor form of Hardik, alongside many other stalwarts, has compounded MI's troubles this year. With just 4 wins in 12 matches, MI find themselves at ninth place on the IPL 2026 points table.
For the first time since 2012, MI has managed to win its season opener when it successfully chased down 221 against the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium. From there, Hardik Pandya's men lost four in a row to be in a precarious situation. In 2025, the team had won just 1 of its first five matches before winning 7 of its last 9 to make the playoffs.
This year, that did not materialise. MI broke their four-match losing streak, but lost three in a row soon after their 99-run win against the Gujarat Titans. MI also managed to chase 229 against the Lucknow Super Giants, but the last-ball loss to the Royal Challengers Bengaluru eliminated them from the tournament.
Hardik Pandya's controversial tenure as captain
Hardik Pandya's tenure as captain of the Mumbai Indians has been extremely controversial. He led GT to the title in 2022 and a runner-up finish in 2023 before being traded in to MI as their captain in 2024. That year, MI finished last on the points table.
As mentioned before, MI put up their impressive comeback in 2025 and were essentially two wins away from winning the IPL title. In 2026, Hardik Pandya was criticised a lot for his captaincy and the team's poor results. Pandya's own poor form has not helped his case.
The captain cannot do anything if the team doesn't respond- Ravi Ashwin
Ravichandran Ashwin has now dropped his honest opinion on Hardik Pandya and MI's struggles. He was asked about the role that a team's poor form has in the impact made by its captain. Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, he said, "You want honesty in that? In 2023, Chennai Super Kings won the IPL. What sort of impact did MS [Dhoni] have as a batter in the tournament?"
"We are just finding excuses to pin it on the captain. MS actually led the side very well that year. I think he had Tushar Deshpande that season. He got the best out of Tushar, had fields on one side of the pitch," he added.
"I'm sure captaincy plays a role; there's no doubt about it. But when the team's not responding, what do you actually do? Because getting every player to respond is not just the captain's job. The captain can't go knocking on every single door. That's a job [that] sometimes, the support staff will also have to cater to," he continued.
"And this year, Mumbai, for whatever reason it be, have not found a way to get their players to respond. What that is, we have no clue from the outside. Only the internal operations would know what's gone wrong," he concluded.
Also Read: Mohammad Amir becomes available for IPL 2027 - Set to join Virat Kohli’s RCB?
Hence then, the article about r ashwin backs hardik pandya despite mi s disastrous ipl 2026 campaign was published today ( ) and is available on cricketaddictor ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( R Ashwin backs Hardik Pandya despite MI’s disastrous IPL 2026 campaign )
Also on site :
- The New Infrastructure of Social Growth: Why SaaS Startups Are Moving Beyond Emulators with GeeLark Cloud Phone
- Kremlin responds to ‘borderline crazy’ threat from NATO state
- This Landmark Was Just Ranked ‘Most Loved in the World’—and It's Not the Eiffel Tower