IPL cricket review: What has happened to the Mumbai Indians this season?
After another disappointing defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Eden Gardens, the Mumbai Indians (MI) have had a season to forget.
They sit ninth in the table, already eliminated and out of the running for qualification this season.
Sports News Blitz writer Dejan Johal reviews their season and analyses why the five-time champions have struggled so much this season.
Top seven failing miserably
At the beginning of the season, many analysts and IPL fans expected the Mumbai Indians to qualify with the quality and depth of their squad.
The main key was the strength of their batting, with match-winners such as Rohit Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav.
However, these players have heavily disappointed MI fans this season.
Last season, Yadav scored 717 runs in 16 innings at an average of 65.
This season, however, has been the complete opposite, with 210 runs in 12 innings with only one half-century.
The others have been heavily underwhelming as well, as only one person has scored over 400 runs this season, which is Ryan Rickelton.
With a batting line-up so destructive and game-changing on paper, MI have been really poor and have only surpassed 200 five times this season, which is just not enough in a season that has seen many teams scoring 200-plus consistently.
Lack of depth and quality in the bowling
Looking at the bowling at the start of the season, MI fans would’ve felt as if their bowling on paper looked amongst the best and covered all areas.
After the heroics of the T20 World Cup, many people would have felt that Jasprit Bumrah playing a full tournament would win them four or five games on his own.
But Bumrah has struggled this season, only taking four wickets, bowling 49 overs.
He hasn’t received really any help from others though, as Trent Boult, Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur have really struggled for wickets and have also been going at economy rates over 10.
MI’s bowlers have conceded 2,431 runs altogether and have taken 67 wickets in the 13 games.
READ MORE: Vitality Blast 2026: Betting odds, team stats, key facts & live streaming guide
Too much chopping and changing
Whenever the five-time champions have won the trophy or been close in the past, they have always kept the same structure and core throughout a tournament.
This has been one of the key reasons why they have had success, as they had a batting and bowling outfit that could suit any pitch or situation.
There have been too many changes in this team, however, as they have tried to find the right combinations and players throughout, which is why they have struggled to find any consistency.
Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah have all captained the side this season.
As well as this, they have been continuously changing the batting order, the players and also changing who bowls at what time in a game.
If the Mumbai Indians are to go back to being a dominant force in the IPL, they need to regain that structure and stick with it throughout the tournament.
Questions continue to be asked about the captain
Hardik Pandya has had a torrid time captaining this side since his triumphant return in 2024.
It has felt like the battle for Pandya hasn’t been with the opposition, but with the MI fans who have constantly criticised him for his captaincy decisions and how he got the gig.
His own performances have been poor this season, taking only four wickets at an economy rate of over 10, as well as only scoring 172 runs with the bat at a strike rate of only 128.
There has been a lot of talk about him with many fans saying he should be removed from captaincy and released from the Mumbai Indians altogether.
With the squad they have, only one top-four finish in three years is embarrassing for the standards that MI have set in the past.
However, is that solely the fault of the captain or is that a failure across the squad as a whole?
One thing is for sure, the Mumbai Indians owners and coaching staff need to self-reflect and analyse what has gone wrong over the last three years and must change something for next season.
