Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma Former Mumbai Indians batting coach Robin Singh has backed MI captain Hardik Pandya after they lost by 103 runs to Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2026 on Thursday.Mumbai were outclassed as Sanju Samson scored an unbeaten 101 off 54 balls, hitting 10 fours and six sixes at a strike rate of 187.04. Samson reached his century on the last ball of the innings with a six as CSK finished on 207/6 in 20 overs.
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Bombay Sport Exchange: Munaf Patel on Gautam Gambhir, Virat vs Bumrah and Indian bowling.MI’s bat collapsed in response. Only Suryakumar Yadav (36) and Tilak Varma (37) crossed double figures. Three batsmen were out for ducks while Hardik also failed with the bat, scoring just one run off two balls before being dismissed by Noor Ahmad.After the match, former MI coach Robin Singh posted on X and said that only the captain should not be blamed for the defeat.“Having seen the impact of the comments after MI’s loss against CSK in the IPL last night… and having been part of their management until a few years back… I feel it is quite impossible to blame the captain alone for this debacle,” he wrote.“What’s with the proven international batsmen with the target in front of them? Shouldn’t they keep the run rate achievable? That’s every player’s role.. So who decides to keep chasing when they win the toss? Because it obviously doesn’t work,” he added.“I agree that the captain made bad decisions but there are so many international captains in the team… why can’t they go to him and give him advice? So when the captain has a bad season, the whole team also has an excuse to collapse collectively?? And in this team, a lot of planning is done in the team room,” he continued.Mumbai Indians are now eighth in the 10-team points table with five defeats and two wins. They need to turn things around quickly.Tilak Varma has been MI’s top scorer this season with 181 runs, which shows how much the batting unit has struggled. India captain Suryakumar Yadav has scored 157 runs so far.Bowling did not go well either. Leading pacer Jasprit Bumrah has conceded just two wickets in seven matches.
