Former Indian cricketer opens up about Hardik Pandya’s captaincy exit from Mumbai Indians. Read the full story to know more.
Published: April 17, 2026 6:00 PM IST
On Thursday, Mumbai Indians faced another defeat in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026. This was the fourth consecutive defeat for the five-time champions in the tournament.
During the clash between Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings, captain of the franchise and one of the finest batters of all time, Shreyas Iyer, who is known for his brilliant batting performance, smashed Mumbai Indians’ bowling attack with the match-winning innings. Iyer, scored 66 runs off 35 balls, including five fours and four sixes at a strike rate of 188.
Manoj Tiwari slams Hardik Pandya for poor captaincy against PBKS
However, Mumbai Indians are facing trouble in the tournament as they have only won one match, which was against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Reflecting on their poor performance, former Indian cricketer and one of the finest batters of all time, Manoj Tiwari slams Hardik Pandya’s captaincy against Punjab Kings.
“From where will ownership come? One has to look at oneself as well. You need to see how you have been playing. According to me, just because you are not having success this year doesn’t mean the mistakes happened only this year. You need to look at the root cause as well. From 2015-2023, Rohit Sharma helped the Mumbai Indians win several trophies,” said Tiwary.
Manoj Tiwari urges Mumbai Indians to remove Hardik Pandya as captain
Manoj Tiwari also made a big urge as he said to remove Hardik Pandya as captain and handover the responsibility to legendary player, Rohit Sharma.
“In 2023, there was no trophy. In 2024, there was no trophy, and the chances of the same happening are high this year too. I think the captaincy is weak. I don’t want to be harsh. But Hardik is not leading the team the way it should be. It’s very important to be proactive as a captain. I think that if a solution is needed, Hardik should step back from the captaincy and hand the responsibility back to Rohit. When you removed Rohit, you did an injustice,” he added.
He also criticized the Mumbai Indians’ batting strategy against the Punjab Kings: “Hardik shouldn’t have promoted himself against the Punjab Kings. He scored 14 runs off 12 balls. Sherfane Rutherford just got five balls. If Rutherford had played as many balls, he would have hit 3-4 sixes. Hardik Pandya thought he could do it. Yes, he could have done it. You should have pushed Rutherford up. And secondly, there is no point in giving Jasprit Bumrah the second over when you are not giving him the first. Deepak Chahar just isn’t able to swing the ball.”
