Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has questioned the reports of Mumbai Indians sacking Hardik Pandya as the captain of the team following a disastrous campaign in the IPL 2026 season. Pandya, who
was traded to the Indians in November 2023 ahead of the IPL 2024 season, has been leading the side since the 2024 season. In the recently-concluded season, he led the side to four wins in 14 games to finish at the second-bottom spot in the standings.
The poor season landed Pandya in hot waters, and led to rumours of the franchise changing their captain ahead of IPL 2027. As per the latest reports, the Indians are planning to sack Pandya from the captaincy following IPL 2026 season. Considering the rift rumours as well as the poor campaign that the Indians endured, several fans and pundits have seemingly supported the decision. However, a few including former skipper R Ashwin has questioned it and backed Pandya stating that he led a young Gujarat Titans core to their first title in the season of inception.
Not only this, but he also questioned the performance of MI’s senior players suggesting that they wanted MI to sack Pandya.
R Ashwin questions MI senior players’ performance under Pandya’s captaincy
Speaking with senior journalist, Vimal Kumar, Ashwin said, “See Vimal bhai, Hardik won a trophy with GT despite not having a star-studded team, and now MI have finished last without even qualifying for the playoffs with the best team on paper. There has to be something fishy. We saw how some senior MI batters were underperforming during his captaincy, and now there are rumours that five senior players were unhappy playing under Hardik and collectively approached the management to sack him.”
He added, “The newly published article is reportedly written by a close friend of some senior players, which only adds to the suspicion.”
“To perform well and win trophies as a team, you first need a healthy environment in the dressing room. Hardik was constantly booed throughout 2024, yet no one really tried to stop the fans, and that says a lot about how uncomfortable the atmosphere must have been for him,” Ashwin further claimed.
Notably, the franchise is yet to make a comment on the reports doing rounds about big change in the team’s leadership.
