Former India opener Sadagoppan Ramesh minced no words as he squarely blamed Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya for his team’s IPL 2026 defeat against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.
Ramesh criticised Pandya’s tactics in the eventual 22-run defeat and insisted that the all-rounder’s decision-making is currently the only glaring issue with the five-time champions, who have now lost three games in a row.
“MI’s only issue is Hardik Pandya’s captaincy. Hardik, the player, is at the upper echelon but remains mediocre as captain. He made a huge error by using two overs of Bumrah in the power play. Yes, the other bowlers were getting smashed, so Hardik was desperate. But Bumrah bowled his second over in the sixth over of the innings and came back only in the 17th over. It means your best bowler wasn’t in the contest for 60 deliveries.”
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Sent to bat first, RCB put on a mammoth 240 for four in Mumbai, their highest-ever score against MI in the IPL. Ramesh also lambasted Pandya’s usage of spin from Mitchell Santner and Mayank Markande from both ends during the innings. While Santner conceded 24 off his first over, Markande leaked 40 runs in two overs.
“The other big mistake Hardik made was bowling spinners at both ends in the seventh and eighth overs. Bowling spin at both ends is a cardinal sin at the Wankhede Stadium. He also gave Markande an over against a Patidar, who is already an excellent player and turns into a beast against spinners. How will you bowl a spinner against Patidar?”
‘Hardik in confused state’
Ramesh also opined that Hardik appeared to be in a confused state while leading a heavily-experienced squad that includes former skipper Rohit Sharma and India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav.
“Hardik Pandya seems to be in a confused state when captaining. He bowled a high full toss to Tim David and took a review. Even Suryakumar Yadav was shocked that he took the review. Then Hardik tried to reverse his decision on the review, but it had already gone up. It is also clearly visible that Rohit Sharma disagrees with many of the decisions Hardik Pandya makes,” said Ramesh
“Even if MI had won this match, the captaincy errors were glaring enough that they can finish in the top four and win the title only if these are corrected. With the kind of team they have, Hardik Pandya doesn’t have to excel as captain. He just has to avoid making blatant mistakes. It’s unfathomable if MI doesn’t make the top four with this team.”
Mumbai are currently placed eighth with two points from four games. Their only win came in the season opener against the Kolkata Knight Riders in Mumbai.
