Before IPL 2026 even began, almost every expert had Mumbai Indians (MI) in their top four predictions. Some even called them title favourites. On paper, it made sense too. Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Tilak Varma. Add some frugal player trades and Wankhede conditions into the mix and MI looked scary.
Instead, they produced one of the worst seasons in franchise history. Again.
Mumbai finished ninth with just four wins in 14 matches and became one of the first teams to be knocked out of the playoff race. Nothing clicked. The batting, which was supposed to be their biggest strength, underperformed. The bowling leaked runs everywhere, the captain looked under pressure, and the famous Wankhede fortress saw them win just two out of seven games.
After ending their first-match curse, everything went downhill for MI. They lost seven of their next eight games. Horrible to say the least from a team that should’ve dominated the league.
What went right for Mumbai Indians?
Not a lot, honestly. But a few players did emerge with credit.
Ryan Rickelton was a revelation
In a season where almost every senior batter struggled, Ryan Rickelton looked like MI’s best T20 batter by miles. The highest run-getter, he smashed 448 runs at a strike rate touching 187 and constantly gave attacking starts. The ploy to get Quinton De Kock at the auctions didn’t work since Rickelton did his job fantastically despite getting dropped once in the league stages. The fact that Rickelton was MI’s best bat despite Suryakumar, Rohit and Tilak being there is a concern for the franchise.
Naman Dhir keeps proving people wrong
MI’s uncapped scouting has disappeared over the last few years, but Naman Dhir was one bright spot. He scored 318 runs and looked fearless in pressure situations. In fact, since IPL 2025, 570 of MI uncapped batters’ 608 runs have come from Dhir alone. That stat says everything. He is the one that MI trusts alot. Unfortunately, his position was chopped and changed a lot as MI still doesn’t know Tilak Varma’s best entry point in T20 cricket. Dhir was made to open, bat at three and even played as a finisher. He can excel in all positions.
Corbin Bosch and Ghazanfar impressed
MI massively underutilised Corbin Bosch, who arrived midway and immediately looked like MI’s most impactful pacer. He was the partnership breaker and a genuine wicket-taker, like what we saw at the T20 World Cup 2026 as well. In the six matches he played, Bosch never went wicketless. In fact, since MI played Bosch regularly (May 4), no other player took more wickets than his 11 in IPL 2026. Unfortunately, MI found their wicket-taker later in the tournament.
Meanwhile, Allah Ghazanfar also picked up 15 wickets despite bowling on flat tracks with almost no support around him. He has done enough to be retained by the franchise. Predominantly a powerplay specialist, Ghazanfar can be an X-factor as he showed incredible pedigree in his maiden IPL season.
What went horribly wrong for Mumbai Indians?
Bumrah slump nobody saw coming
Jasprit Bumrah having four wickets in 13 matches sounds fake, but it actually happened. He looked undercooked throughout the season and MI still kept playing him despite him visibly not looking close to full rhythm. Perhaps the T20 World Cup 2026 fatigue caught up. Despite this, Bumrah’s economy of 8.36 was the best for his team. Opposition teams simply saw off Bumrah and targeted everyone else.
Trent Boult went at 12.22, and he is well past his prime. Mumbai need fresh blood in the overseas pace department and expect them to release the legendary pacer. Hardik Pandya’s bowling was non-existent as well, going at at 12.66. Deepak Chahar showed some promise but his economy of 13.38 was awful. So was Shardul Thakur’s at 13.57. That is not a bowling attack. That is charity for a tournament made for batters.
Hardik’s captaincy became a problem
Hardik Pandya’s numbers are ugly now. Since taking over MI in 2024, the team has lost 24 out of 39 matches under him. This season he scored just 206 runs at a strike rate of 138 and picked up only four wickets. He was one of the flops of the season. Pandya’s bowling changes were reactive, team selections kept changing, and MI never looked tactically settled. Mumbai used 24 players, easily the most by any team – a signal that MI failed to select a combination throughout the tournament. Pandya failed to find a suitable batting entry point for either himself or Tilak Varma as well, which led to some slowness.
Suryakumar and Rohit failed together
Usually, one of them rescues MI. This year neither did. Suryakumar averaged just 20.76. Rohit missed six matches due to injury and was mostly reduced to an Impact Player role after returning. Rohit, while looked decent for most of the time he played, Suryakumar just continued his poor form. While he is hopeful, his numbers show otherwise. There are even calls that MI might release SKY, who has been a shadow of a batter he was last year. The age is caughting up as well. The old MI core simply looked tired.
Scouting team failing to deliver for MI
Mumbai, who were once known for unleashing new and improbable talents, have put a full stop. They rely on elite superstars now, failing to nurture any special talent, barring Naman Dhir.
The franchise that once discovered Bumrah, Hardik, Krunal, SKY and Tilak now looked obsessed with reputation over scouting. Apart from Dhir and brief flashes from Ashwani Kumar, there was very little fresh talent pushing through. Earlier, MI used to build stars. Players who didn’t make their name at MI, like Josh Hazlewood, Yuzvendra Chahal, Nicholas Pooran, Kuldeep Yadav have all been part of MI. Now the franchise seem stuck protecting old ones.
The scouting team have selected some youngsters, but none of them scream something special. Krish Bhagat was included mid-tournament but looked ordinary. So did Raj Bawa. Robin Minz has failed to live up to the hype. Mayank Rawat wasn’t given any chance to bat. While Mohammed Izhar didn’t get to bowl.
You see a team like SRH, who have done an incredible job in scouting, getting hold of quality bowlers like Shivang Kumar, Sakib Hussain, Praful Hinge and Harsh Dubey. Even PBKS fell upon Priyansh Arya and Suryansh Shegde.
Verdict for MI
There is still one season to go before the mega auction. Mumbai have two choices. They can either give this core another shot or look to go clean slate from next season onwards. Doing that would be tough. You might not get enough players in a mini auction.
The team looked outdated tactically, injury-prone physically and mentally drained throughout the campaign. More importantly, there was no clear cricketing direction visible. Mumbai Indians need a serious reset now. They have to take a couple of hard decision. There are rumours that Hardik Pandya might bid adieu. That move can go either way, since there may be no direct replacement available for Pandya. But the camaraderie hasn’t worked at all.
All in all, MI need new thinking, better scouting, and Smarter auction planning. Because right now, they do not look anywhere close to a title-winning side.
Rating: 4/10
Mumbai Indians results at IPL 2026
| Position | P | W | L | Pts | NRR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 14 | 4 | 10 | 8 | -0.584 |
| Opposition | Date | Result | NRR Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| KKR | Mar 29 | Won by 6 wkts | +0.687 |
| DC | Apr 04 | Lost by 6 wkts | -0.893 |
| RR | Apr 07 | Lost by 27 runs | -0.509 |
| RCB | Apr 12 | Lost by 18 runs | -0.057 |
| PBKS | Apr 16 | Lost by 7 wkts | -0.304 |
| GT | Apr 20 | Won by 99 runs | +1.143 |
| CSK | Apr 23 | Lost by 103 runs | -0.803 |
| SRH | Apr 29 | Lost by 6 wkts | -0.048 |
| CSK | May 02 | Lost by 8 wkts | -0.019 |
| LSG | May 04 | Won by 6 wkts | +0.154 |
| RCB | May 10 | Lost by 2 wkts | +0.064 |
| PBKS | May 14 | Won by 6 wkts | +0.081 |
| KKR | May 20 | Lost by 4 wkts | -0.006 |
| RR | May 24 | Lost by 30 runs | -0.074 |
Highest run-scorers for MI at IPL 2026
| Player | Runs | Average | Strike Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Rickelton | 448 | 40.72 | 186.66 |
| Tilak Varma | 359 | 29.91 | 145.93 |
| Naman Dhir | 318 | 26.50 | 147.22 |
| Rohit Sharma | 283 | 35.37 | 157.22 |
| Suryakumar Yadav | 270 | 20.76 | 147.54 |
Highest wicket-takers for MI at IPL 2026
| Player | Wickets | Average | Economy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Allah Ghazanfar | 15 | 25.93 | 10.01 |
| Corbin Bosch | 12 | 16.25 | 9.66 |
| Shardul Thakur | 12 | 22.50 | 12.27 |
| Deepak Chahar | 8 | 33.12 | 10.39 |
| Jasprit Bumrah | 4 | 102.50 | 8.36 |
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