IPL 2026: 'No one standing by him' - Former India batter believes Hardik Pandya has lost MI dressing room

Former Indian cricketer Manoj Tiwary has stated that the Mumbai Indians’ season is well and truly over in IPL 2026 after their seventh loss of the season, to the Chennai Super Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

Tiwary added further that Hardik Pandya has lost the dressing room, with the rest of the squad failing to live up to their skipper. Hardik has had a poor season with both bat and ball, scoring just 146 runs and picking up just four wickets in eight games. Hardik's captaincy has come under scrutiny all season, and during the loss to the Punjab Kings, Jasprit Bumrah was seen expressing his frustration on the MI skipper's calls. 

"For me, it certainly is over; in fact, for me, it was over a long time ago. As you know, whenever we sit down for a discussion, we speak quite openly and frankly with one another. I base my observations and comments strictly on what is visible on the field. And, in my opinion—judging by the brand of cricket we’ve witnessed—it appears that something is fundamentally amiss," said Tiwary, speaking on Cricbuzz.

"Look, a captain is supposed to win the confidence of every single player in the squad; you have to step up and be a true leader. Right? However, observing the situation, it seems as though no one is truly standing by Hardik. It feels like no one is rallying behind him; the kind of support he ought to be receiving simply isn't materialising.

"Yes, the captain certainly has a specific role to play—and perhaps, he isn't fulfilling that role as effectively as he could be. From my perspective, he isn't quite living up to the task. But beyond that, the players themselves need to shoulder their share of the responsibility,” Tiwary added.

He also shed light on how the star international players like Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma have not performed. Tilak has scored 193 runs in nine matches, which included a marvellous century against the Gujarat Titans, while Suryakumar has scored 183 runs in the same span, with just one half-century.

"Take Suryakumar, for instance: he hasn't been delivering performances on a consistent, match-to-match basis. Similarly, Tilak had one standout match, but he hasn't been scoring runs since then. If this kind of inconsistency persists among the rest of the squad, how can you possibly expect to achieve positive results? It is, quite frankly, deeply disappointing," said Tiwary.

The Mumbai Indians are all but out of the race for the playoffs in IPL 2026, needing to win their next five matches, which would only get them to 14 points. They take on the Lucknow Super Giants in their next match at the Wankhede Stadium on May 4.