After suffering another defeat in IPL 2026 despite posting a mammoth 243 on the board, Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya admitted that his team does not have much of a chance this season and once again reiterated the changes that need to be made for the five-time champions to salvage their campaign going forward.
This was Mumbai Indians’ sixth loss of the season, pushing them to ninth place in the points table with just four points on their account.
While describing the team’s struggles throughout the season, Pandya also addressed MI fans and said that the team had not given them much opportunity to support them. While acknowledging their loyalty, Pandya said it sometimes hurts when fans chant for the rival instead of their own team. However, he was quick to add that it’s on the team to give fans reasons to cheer.
“I haven’t been able to do exactly what Mumbai Indians represent”
“I think this season we don’t have much of a choice, we really need to see all the differences we can make. I won’t put my players under the bus. I think as an overall unit we haven’t been able to do exactly what Mumbai Indians stand for,” Pandya said when asked how he plans to approach his bowling attack after failing to defend a strong total.
“We really need to see what we need to work on,” he added.
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‘Sometimes it hurts’
“We haven’t given them many opportunities to back us up, but they have been fantastic and loyal. Sometimes it hurts when the opposition comes and starts chanting their name. But we probably need to give them more (to cheer and shout),” he said.
The Mumbai Indians captain said that with the continued support of the franchise owners and support staff, the team will find a way out.
“We have passionate owners and support staff, hopefully we’ll figure something out.”
SRH take down MI in Wankhede
MI bowlers were torn apart by SRH batsmen, with none conceding less than 10 runs per over. Notably, the ever-reliable Jasprit Bumrah returned figures of 0/54 in four overs.
Mumbai Indians, boosted by an unbeaten 55-ball 123 from Ryan Rickelton, posted 243/5 in 20 overs after electing to bat first. However, Sunrisers Hyderabad, led by Travis Head (76 off 30 balls), Heinrich Klaasen (65* off 30), Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) and Salil Arora (30* off 10), chased down the target with eight balls to spare.