Former India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has expressed disappointment and lack of confidence in Mumbai Indians and their captain Hardik Pandya for the remaining matches of IPL 2026.
Under the leadership of captain Pandya, Mumbai Indians are currently placed ninth in the IPL 2026 points table with just 2 wins from 8 matches. The cluster of losses has badly affected Mumbai’s net run rate and their chances of a comeback are almost gone.
The latest in the series of failures for Hardik Pandya’s team was their failure to defend 244 against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 29. Despite Ryan Rickelton scoring a historic century for MI, Mumbai bowlers were unable to stop SRH batsmen.
My mind is unable to understand how this is possible- R Ashwin
Speaking to journalist Vimal Tiwari on his YouTube channel, Ashwin expressed his surprise and disappointment at the failures of Hardik Pandya and MI in IPL 2026.
“I am a bit surprised. The way Mumbai Indians played in this IPL. I don’t know how it happened. My mind is not thinking how is this possible. We are not able to find any reason for it. I feel sorry for them. This was my favorite (team) before this tournament. I thought this is the game. Mumbai Indians will come back here. But SRH did not give us a chance.”
“I have no expectations” – Ashwin on Hardik Pandya
Ashwin was asked if Mumbai Indians can win all their remaining matches to stay in the tournament. He said he did not believe they would be able to do so.
“I don’t have hope. I will tell you why I don’t have hope from Mumbai. Because look at their trend, they gave 220 runs against KKR. But no other team in this tournament has given 220 (runs) against KKR. KKR has not made such a big score against any other team.”
“And if MI bowl first, they are giving 230-240. They are not able to chase that score. If they are giving 220, it was 208 against Chennai, it could have been a slow wicket. But it was not more than a par score. They could not chase that score so they made some changes to the wicket,” he said.
“Their batting lineup is struggling, their bowling attack is struggling. So where will the answers come from? And when they are away from home, they won’t get the answers again. So, I don’t know,” he said.
📢 Ravi Ashwin is feeling emotional for Mumbai Indians 🤧
Ashwin said:
“I am absolutely amazed by the way Mumbai played this season. My mind cannot understand how this is possible. And honestly, man, watching Mumbai Indians I really feel sorry for them. They were my… pic.twitter.com/Zhg0Zwv3Fz– AK 45 (@ImRo45_Club) 29 April 2026
next match of mumbai indians
If Hardik Pandya-led Mumbai Indians manages to pull off a miracle, it won’t be the first time an IPL team has come back from a bad phase. Pandya had led MI to the playoffs last year after winning only one of their first five matches.
MI will take on Chennai Super Kings in their next match on May 2. MI have already lost to CSK once this season, and another defeat will definitely end their season.
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