Hardik Pandya’s captaincy has been a recurring point at the start of every IPL season for the past two years. And here we are again. Mumbai Indians look stacked. The batting is deep, the bowling has options and on paper this is a team that can go all the way.
But looking good on paper was never enough for the franchise with five IPL titles. The trophy is all that matters. And they haven’t won a single one since Hardik took charge. This season, more than any before it, feels like the one that will define his captaincy once and for all.
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To understand how we got here, you have to go back to where it all began.
Hardik left Mumbai Indians for Gujarat Titans in 2021 and immediately thrived. He was the heart of the team that won the 2022 IPL title in the very first season and led from the front. He looked every bit the leader he always thought he was. It was probably one of the best versions of Hardik Pandya that we have seen. Then came the return to Mumbai Indians and somehow everything changed. Hardik Pandya returned to MI and took the leadership position. (PTI Photo)
Taking over the captaincy from Rohit Sharma was never easy. But what made it especially annoying was the timing. Rohit was still an integral part of the team and there was no real public interest after the change in management. Hardik’s accession to the throne was sudden, like a coronation that no one asked for. It seemed pointless to me. The fans made their feelings clear and sections of the Wankhede crowd booed Hardik during the 2024 season. It was an unusual, almost jarring sight — a player returning to a franchise that had given it a break, now cast as an outsider.
Pandya has fared much better in 2025, especially after Rohit confirmed that he will continue as part of the set-up. However, the feeling of unease never completely disappeared. The noise died down, but the question remained. Hardik, for all his stature, never looked like himself in the Mumbai Indians side. He was the center of gravity in Gujarat. In Mumbai, he often felt like a captain still trying to carve out his space in a dressing room that wasn’t quite his.
THE BURDEN HE CARRIED
To be fair to Hardik, he is not the same happy cricketer he was before. He is now a two-time T20 World Cup winner with the ability to change games with both bat and ball. In his day, there are few better all-rounders in world cricket. That figure brings him gravitas. And that gravity brings pressure.
He seemed to be weighed down by the pressure of captaincy in a way that never happened in Gujarat. It must be said that some of the pressure was self-inflicted. Taking over the captaincy of one of the most successful franchises in the history of the IPL while Rohit Sharma remains in the same dressing room is not a burden many would willingly accept.
If the alleged internal competition with Rohit was bad enough, now there is another layer.
Suryakumar Yadav enters the dressing room fresh in 2025 as he leads India to the T20 World Cup title. Mumbai Indians now have two T20 World Cup-winning captains in their ranks, neither of them leading the side. It’s a dynamic that’s hard to ignore. Every decision Hardik makes this season will inevitably be viewed through that lens, not just in terms of results but also in comparison.
Former Indian selector Krishnamachari Srikkanth made this clear in his YouTube show.
“It’s a funny situation. Two to three weeks ago, Suryakumar Yadav won the World Cup as captain. Two years ago, Rohit Sharma won it as captain. From the outside, Suryakumar Yadav seems to be the clear choice. He is on a winning streak,” Srikkanth said.
Srikkanth went a step further and suggested that the simplest solution may lie with Hardik himself.
“Hardik Pandya should go ahead and say, ‘I’m stepping aside. Let Surya lead. He captained the World T20 champion.’ If Hardik himself says so, things will be resolved,” he added.
Reality will hang over Hardik every time he makes a decision on the field this season.
GAMBHIR PRECEDENCE
It is worth repeating what Gautam Gambhir said years ago, long before he became India’s head coach. Talking about the responsibility of management in the IPL, Gambhir was unequivocal.
“Eight years is a long, long time. Look what happened to R Ashwin. He was the captain of Kings XI Punjab for two years, he couldn’t deliver and he was removed. We are talking about MS Dhoni, we are talking about Rohit Sharma, we are talking about Virat Kohli… not at all. Dhoni won three IPL titles, Rohit Sharma and that’s why they won titles four times. I am sure if Rohit Sharma had not delivered for eight years, he would have been removed for different people as well,” he said Gambhir in 2020 on ESPNCricinfo.
These words were directed at Virat Kohli and Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the time. The context was different. Kohli did not win an IPL title despite years at the helm and Gambhir felt the franchise was too loyal to the name rather than the results.
But this principle applies just as strongly to Indians in Bombay today.
Hardik has now gone two seasons as captain without a title. If the third season passes without silverware, the question will no longer be one of patience, but of direction. MI have not won the title for five years in a row and that is something they will not take lightly.
And unlike most teams, Mumbai Indians already have a ready-made alternative in their ranks. With Suryakumar Yadav in the dressing room, the transition wouldn’t require a rebuild – it would simply require a decision.
Two seasons without a trophy. Two World Cup-winning captains are waiting in the wings. A fan base that hasn’t fully embraced his leadership.
This is the season Hardik Pandya needs to deliver. Not a close run. No end to the playoffs. Title.
And the results this season could be make or break for Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya.
– The end
Issued by:
Kingshuk Kusari
Published on:
March 24, 2026 12:19 PM IST
