The Mumbai Indians' (MI) made the decision to remove their five-time IPL-winning captain Rohit Sharma and replace him with Hardik Pandya. It was a decision that made a huge uproar, while MI wanted someone with success to carry forward the legacy.
Hardik Pandya had joined the Gujarat Titans before the 2022 mega auction and led them to the IPL 2022 title as well. GT then made the finals of the IPL 2023 as well, and Pandya was also the Indian T20I vice-captain then.
This led to MI trading him back from GT for a huge sum and appointed him captain, but Hardik Pandya hasn’t been able to replicate the same success with the Mumbai Indians since he rejoined the franchise in 2024.
MI finished at the 10th spot in IPL 2024, and Pandya was booed at all the venues MI played, including their home at Wankhede, as fans didn’t accept him as captain, as their favorite Rohit Sharma was removed.
In 2025, the franchise improved, reaching Qualifier 2, and Hardik received support from the crowd as well. However, MI has had an underwhelming start to their IPL 2026, losing four out of their opening six matches.
Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar questioned Hardik's captaincy credentials, attributing most of the Gujarat Titans' success to team head coach Ashish Nehra. He further claimed that if Mumbai had stolen Hardik, they should have also gotten Nehra on board.
“Hardik Pandya to the Mumbai Indians was a very interesting decision. I think sometimes franchises make decisions that are newsworthy and put them in the spotlight, because ultimately, it’s a commercial brand. You can see the kind of valuations franchises are getting. So, it may not even be a sound cricketing call.
Hardik Pandya had success with the Gujarat Titans, and that was largely due to someone named Ashish Nehra. So maybe if you wanted Hardik Pandya, you could have also got Ashish Nehra with him," said Manjrekar on Sportstar’s Insight Edge podcast.
Manjrekar also believes Hardik was successful as captain because he had a proactive coach who managed the team from the sidelines.
"Hardik Pandya, I believe, was brilliant because there was somebody next to him constantly with almost every move that he made on the field. So, it’s really not so much about Hardik Pandya, but the decision, whether it was a sensible decision or it was just somebody wanting to think out of the box a little bit and doing something a little sensational,” he added.
MI will next be in action on April 23 when they face off against CSK at home in Mumbai.
