3 min learnCould 27, 2026 07:52 PM IST
Hardik Pandya’s Instagram account appeared deactivated for a number of hours simply three days after the tip of Mumbai Indians’ reasonably disastrous 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) marketing campaign. Whereas hypothesis brewed on-line on why this will have occurred, the deal with reappeared a number of hours later. The hypothesis was additional fuelled by the truth that five-time IPL champions MI had a reasonably dismal marketing campaign this season.
MI completed second to backside within the league desk, tied on eight factors with bottom-placed Lucknow Tremendous Giants (LSG) having received simply 4 out of the 14 matches they performed and misplaced 10. Pandya himself had a reasonably forgettable outing individually. He scored 206 runs in 10 matches however completed with a strike fee of simply 138.25, a far cry from the 163.50 he managed final season and properly beneath the sort of strike fee he’s identified to take care of. Pandya additionally managed simply 4 wickets within the 9 innings that he bowled in and ended with an economic system of 11.42.
Pandya was made MI captain forward of the 2024 season of the IPL in reasonably controversial circumstances. He led Gujarat Titans to the IPL title of their very first season within the league and to the ultimate within the second after which he returned to MI as their skipper. Nevertheless, followers had been sad with the way in which Rohit Sharma was sacked from the place within the course of, all of which led to Pandya being booed on the Wankhede Stadium all through the 2024 season. The disquiet spilled over into the performances and MI completed backside of the desk.
Nevertheless, it was a a lot improved present the following season, which got here after Pandya’s heroics in India’s 2024 T20 World Cup victory. MI completed fourth and misplaced within the Eliminator to the Punjab Kings. This was adopted by one more succesfull T20 World Cup marketing campaign for India through which Pandya performed a central position however this time, it was adopted by a poor season within the IPL for MI.
Mumbai Indians have received all 5 of their IPL titles below Rohit’s captaincy. Nevertheless, since their final title triumph in 2020, MI have struggled to take care of consistency. The present version of the IPL marks the sixth consecutive time through which MI have did not win the title, which is their longest stretch so far.