Mumbai Indians (MI), the five-time champions, will start the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 as the overwhelming favorites. MI's lineup is dangerous, featuring Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, and Tilak Varma.
MI's last IPL victory came in 2020, and they will be eager to win more titles and move past Chennai Super Kings on the all-time winners list.
Hardik joined the Mumbai Indians in 2024 after being traded by the Gujarat Titans, and he succeeded Rohit as captain. Many complications arose in 2024, as fans were upset that Hardik had replaced Rohit. Mumbai finished at the bottom of the points standings.
In IPL 2025, the five-time champions advanced to the playoffs but were defeated in Qualifier 2 by the Punjab Kings, captained by Shreyas Iyer.
Ahead of the IPL 2026, former India captain Kris Srikkanth has stated that with MI having T20 World Cup 2026-winning captain Suryakumar Yadav in the lineup, Hardik Pandya should vacate the captaincy for him.
He also said that the franchise management needs to come together to decide the future course of action.
“They have to come together again, the franchise owners and the team management with Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, and Hardik Pandya, and set this right again. They should ask Surya to lead this year to see if there is a change of luck. They can always appoint Surya as the captain anytime. They don't need to announce it right now,” Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.
“It's a funny situation. Hardik Pandya is a good captain. But, yes, they have two T20 World Cup-winning captains playing under him now. It's some internal policy within their setup that they have to sort out. From the outside, the obvious choice should be Suryakumar Yadav. But this might be a franchise policy,” he added.
Srikkanth believes that if Hardik decides to relinquish the captaincy, things would become easier for everyone concerned, and the team will be able to conduct its business without difficulty.
“It's a strange situation, as Hardik played under Rohit and Surya to help India win the World Cup. Otherwise, Hardik should himself say no to captaincy and allow Surya to lead. If Hardik himself says this to the management, things will get resolved. He should say, 'Let Surya lead and I'll support'. That's one way of solving it,” said Srikkanth.
MI will face KKR on March 29 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai in their first IPL 2026 match.
