Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya is having a tough season so far with both his own performance as well as the team not doing well. Mumbai Indians have had a really bad season and are already eliminated from this edition with still plenty of matches left. Hardik Pandya has missed the previous few matches for Mumbai Indians and with no clarity or clarifications officially, fans kept wondering. There were plenty of rumors as well which said Hardik Pandya is not injured and there is some bigger issue which is the cause of his absence from the team.
Mahela Jayawardene clarifies the absence of Hardik Pandya
Mumbai Indians coach Jayawardene has offered clarification regarding this matter. Speaking about the absence of Hardik Pandya amid rumors of his rift with the franchise, Mumbai Indians coach Mahela Jayawardene has clarified that he is out of action due to injury. Jayawardene said ‘’Hardik had a back issue which we were trying to rectify. But it hasn’t settled in yet. So, medical guys were working on him. He couldn’t train for the last few days so we didn’t want to take a risk. It's on a day to day basis.
Struggle for Mumbai Indians and Hardik Pandya
Mumbai Indians started the Indian Premier League 2026 with a win and things looked really good as they were one of the stronger sides on paper. They went on a losing streak and were the first team to be eliminated from this edition. Despite such star players in the side, Mumbai Indians could not find performances from their big players including Jasprit Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav.
Hardik Pandya the captain of the side has also not been able to deliver. The star all-rounder has scored just 146 runs and picked up 4 wickets in eight matches this season. His own performances have come under scrutiny in many games and with Mumbai Indians suffering losses it looked like all the blame was on Hardik Pandya. It has been a really challenging season for him and he will be keen to bounce back strong.
