Manoj Tiwary has called for a major management overhaul at Mumbai Indians and suggested the franchise hand the captaincy back to Rohit Sharma amid a poor IPL 2026 campaign. The former India batsman questioned Hardik Pandya’s leadership and pointed to the team’s struggles this season.
A disappointing start for Mumbai increased control around Hardik, with a team that managed to win only once in five games and slipped to the bottom of the points table. MI’s crushing defeat to Shreyas Iyer-led PBKS on 16 April stretched MI’s losing streak to 4 matches at the Wankhede.
IPL 2026, MI vs PBKS: HIGHLIGHTS | SCORECARD
“Where does the ownership come from? You have to look at yourself as well. You have to see how you played,” Tiwary said on Cricbuzz.
“Just because you fail this year doesn’t mean mistakes happened only this year. You also have to look at the root cause. Between 2015 and 2023, Rohit Sharma helped Mumbai Indians win several trophies,” he added.
Tiwary also compared management styles and did not hold back in his assessment of the current set-up at MI.
“Shreyas Iyer has shown excellent captaincy while Mumbai Indians’ captaincy has been very weak. I think if a solution is needed, Hardik should step down as captain and hand the responsibility back to Rohit. You have done injustice by removing Rohit,” he said.
IS HARDIK THE REASON FOR MY DOWNFALL?
Despite the criticism, head coach Mahela Jayawardene dismissed the idea of solely blaming Pandya for the team’s struggles.
“I don’t think it’s just Hardik, it’s all of us. When we fail, it’s not an individual, it’s very much on me, everyone involved in the management to see how we can be better,” Jayawardene said in the post-match press conference.
His comments reflected a collective approach where the team management was unwilling to lift the captain despite mounting external pressure.
HOW YOU PERFORMED FOR ME IN IPL 2026
The Mumbai Indians campaign has been underwhelming so far.
They have lost four of their first five matches, managed only one win and are currently at the bottom of the table. Their bowling struggled badly, conceding 972 runs in five games at an economy rate of 10.26, with a bowling average of 30.86, indicating a lack of control and wicket-taking ability.
Pandya’s individual numbers also attracted attention. In the four matches he played, he scored 81 runs and conceded only 2 wickets, missing one match due to illness.
The final defeat to the Punjab Kings further exposed these issues as Mumbai failed to defend 195 despite a strong batting effort.
With both individual and collective performances lagging behind, the pressure is mounting on the Mumbai Indians to find answers quickly.
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Issued by:
Debodinna Chakraborty
Published on:
17 Apr 2026 15:12 IST
