Former India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has expressed disappointment and a lack of faith in the Mumbai Indians and their captain Hardik Pandya for the rest of IPL 2026.
Under skipper Pandya, the Mumbai Indians are currently ninth on the IPL 2026 points table with just 2 wins in 8 matches. The clustering of losses has severely affected Mumbai’s net run rate and has almost killed their chances of making a comeback.
The latest in a series of failings for Hardik Pandya’s side was their failure to defend 244 against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 29. Despite Ryan Rickelton making a historic century for MI, the Mumbai bowlers were unable to contain SRH’s batters at all.
My mind isn’t processing how this is even possible- R Ashwin
Talking to journalist Vimal Tiwari on his YouTube channel, Ashwin expressed his shock and disappointment over Hardik Pandya and MI’s failures in IPL 2026.
“I am a bit shocked. The way Mumbai Indians played in this IPL. I don’t know how this happened. My mind isn’t processing how this is even possible. We can’t find a reason for this. I feel sorry for them. It was my favourite [team] before this tournament. I felt that this is the game. Mumbai Indians will come back here. But SRH didn’t give us a chance.”
“I don’t have any hope” – Ashwin on Hardik Pandya
Ashwin was asked whether the Mumbai Indians could win all their remaining matches to stay in the tournament. He said that he didn’t believe they would be capable of this.
“I don’t have hope. I will tell you why I don’t have hope on Mumbai. Because look at their trend, they gave 220 against KKR. But no other team in this tournament gave 220 [runs] against KKR. KKR didn’t make such a big score against any other team.”
“And if MI bowl first, they are giving 230-240. They are not able to chase that score down. If they are giving 220, it was 208 against Chennai, it could have been a slow wicket. But it was not more than the par score. They couldn’t chase that score so they made some changes in the wicket,” he said.
“Their batting lineup is struggling, their bowling attack is struggling. So where will the answer come from? And when they are away from home, they are yet to find answers again. So, I don’t know,” he added.
📢 Ravi Ashwin feeling emotional for Mumbai Indians 🤧
Ashwin said 🗣️ :
“I’m absolutely shocked by how Mumbai played this season My mind isn’t processing how this is even possible. And Honestly yaar, watching Mumbai Indians I actually feel sorry for them. They were my… pic.twitter.com/Zhg0Zwv3Fz— AK 45 (@ImRo45_Club) April 29, 2026
Mumbai Indians’ next match
If the Hardik Pandya-led Mumbai Indians do manage to pull their miracle off, it wouldn’t be the first time an IPL team has come back from the trenches. Pandya himself led MI to the playoffs last year after winning just one of their first five matches.
MI will face the Chennai Super Kings on May 2 in their next match. MI have already lost to CSK once this season, and another loss would almost certainly end their season.
Also Read: Hardik Pandya literally drags Mumbai Indians to unwanted low at Wankhede in IPL
