Hardik Pandya breaks down behind MI's disastrous IPL 2026 season

Hardik Pandya made no attempt to hide Mumbai Indians’ biggest problem after yet another crushing defeat ended their already disastrous IPL 2026 campaign even further. The MI skipper admitted that the franchise’s repeated failures in the field during the season hurt the team badly and said dropped catches kept leaving Mumbai “chasing the game”.

Mumbai Indians suffered yet another defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders on May 20 at Eden Gardens, a result that summed up much of their miserable season. After just four wins in 13 matches, MI are now second in the IPL 2026 table with just eight points and already out of the playoff race.

IPL 2026, KKR vs MI: Highlighting | Scorecard

After the defeat, Hardik openly admitted that Mumbai’s fielding standards had fallen well below the level required to compete consistently in the IPL.

“I think we’ve been pretty poor in the field throughout the season. I think we’ve dropped a lot of catches, which obviously nobody wants to do. But in this part of the game I think there’s no hiding. I think if you have chances, if you want to win matches, you have to take every chance, even the half chances,” said Hardik Pandya.

“But yes, when you throw away chances that can change the game, it’s always that you’re chasing the game,” added a combative Pandya.

After posting 147/8, MI still managed to create moments during KKR’s chase where they could have dragged themselves back into the contest. But again their shooting let them down.

The most frustrating moment came in the 10th over.

Rovman Powell attacked Hardik Pandya and what should have been a straightforward over turned into utter confusion between Deepak Chahar and Robin Minz. Both players in the field hesitated, neither of them really asserted themselves, and the ball finally fell safely between them.

It was exactly the kind of moment that haunted Mumbai during IPL 2026.

MIHO HORROR SEASON SUMMARY FIELDING ERRORS

Mumbai’s catching problems have dogged them for almost the entire season.

The franchise lost five catches in a single match against Punjab Kings earlier in the tournament, while several games got away due to missed opportunities in the field.

For a side that once built its dominance on discipline and ruthlessness, the drop in standards has been glaring.

And the contrast against Kolkata Knight Riders during the Eden Gardens clash only made things tougher for MI.

While Mumbai continued to squander chances, KKR once again looked like one of the sharpest players in the competition.

Much of this improvement was internally credited to fielding coach Dhant Yagnik, who turned Kolkata into arguably the best catching side of IPL 2026. One of the clearest examples came during Cameron Green’s brilliant catch to dismiss Rohit Sharma during the match.

That sharpness ended up being one of the biggest differences between the two teams.

KKR held their chances, absorbed the pressure better and eventually chased down the target with a level finish led by Manish Pandey and Rinku Singh.

Meanwhile, Mumbai’s season is now limping towards its conclusion with just one match remaining against Rajasthan Royals.

And after a campaign full of inconsistency, poor pitching and constant pressure, MI now head into IPL 2027 with far more questions than answers.

– The end

Issued by:

Debodinna Chakraborty

Published on:

21 May 2026 01:29 IST