Mumbai Indians’ indifferent start to the IPL 2026 season with three successive defeats, including a second straight loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Wankhede Stadium after a gap of 10 years, has left captain Hardik Pandya scrambling for answers. After getting thumped by Rajasthan Royals in an 11-over contest in Guwahati, MI’s bowlers came under the scanner yet again on Sunday night after defending champions RCB hammered a colossal 240 for four, their highest total at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Mumbai’s chase was worsened after an injury forced Rohit Sharma to retire hurt early on, while Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma failed to up the scoring rates. Despite a late blitz from Sherfane Rutherford and skipper Hardik, Mumbai fell short by 18 runs, meaning they have now lost three in succession starting with a defeat to Delhi Capitals away from home. ALSO READ | Krunal Pandya on using bouncers as a spinner in IPL 2026: ‘I am someone who follows my gut’ “I think that was always going to be catch-up. I think it’s been the last couple of games as a bowling unit or even as a batting unit, we’ve been quite catching up to the game rather than leading the game. Really need to reflect, really need to see what best we can do and how we can get that momentum and that click which we require,” Pandya said after the defeat, their third in a row. Despite winning the toss and opting to field, the MI bowlers were put under tremendous pressure, prompting Hardik to rethink their entire team strategy across all departments. “To be very honest, now a lot of things need to be rethought. Definitely, it’s not working. A couple of games, we have won the toss, but maybe we need to see what the other options are, as well as the batting group or bowling group that we can have. We still need to bat well, we still need to bowl well, irrespective of the toss,” admitted Hardik. Story continues below this ad MI’s hopes were kept afloat by impact sub Rutherford, who was traded in from the Gujarat Titans prior to the season. Rutherford smoked nine sixes during his unbeaten 31-ball 71, helping MI to reduce the margin of defeat in the end, receiving appreciation from the skipper. “When we got Rutherford, it was always exciting for us. We always knew the kind of potential and the kind of power he has and the way he batted, it just gives us extra cushion and at the same time confidence, if we want to make some changes or we want to see what this team requires, we can definitely do it because of the way he is batting,” said Pandya.
Hardik Pandya reacts after MI’s third consecutive IPL 2026 loss: ‘Lot of things need rethink’
