IPL 2026: What went wrong for Mumbai Indians?

After taking a promising flight into the Indian Premier League 2026 (IPL 2026), Mumbai Indians' (MI) playoffs hopes came crashing down as they got knocked out of the tournament after losing to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Match 54 at Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, Raipur.

The Hardik Pandya-led side entered the tournament as one of the strongest sides on paper, touted as favourites to lift the title. MI’s campaign also had a bizarre beginning by their standards, with the team winning its first match of the season for the first time since 2012.

However, the five-time champions couldn’t build on their momentum and have only won three out of 11 matches to be tottering at the second last spot (ninth) on the IPL 2026 points table with six points. A lot of factors contributed to Mumbai’s horrendous campaign:

Inability to make Wankhede a fortress

One of the biggest reasons behind Mumbai’s downfall was their inability to make Wankhede Stadium a fortress. MI have won just two out of six matches so far at their home ground, their joint-second-worst performance at the venue in a single season. This season also saw MI lose four successive matches at Wankhede for the first time as they couldn’t make the most of the home advantage.

Bumrah unable to make his presence felt

Another contributing factor for MI’s downfall was the horrific performance of their star bowler Jasprit Bumrah. The pace spearhead is having his worst-ever IPL season as he remained wicketless for the first five matches. Bumrah has just three wickets to his name from 11 innings, at an ignominious average of 116.33. The speedster has looked overcooked for the most of the season, looking like a pale shadow of himself.

As a result, bowlers who were expected to play the supporting role to Bumrah also failed to rise to the occasion, leading to a collective bowling failure for MI.

Mr 360 continues to fail

The star batter has been the backbone of Mumbai’s batting for a number of years. However, coming into the season, with quiet outings at the international level, Suryakumar's poor form followed him in the IPL as well. For the first time since 2017, he's averaging under 20 in an IPL season, having failed to provide any solidity in the middle order, which has hurt MI intensely.

Skipper failing to lead from the front

Hardik Pandya has also had a season to forget, having scored 146 runs from eight innings and taken just four wickets with the ball. His poor form rubbed off on his leadership as well, as his several decisions in the field also came under scrutiny. Pandya also struggled to find the ideal combination for the side, and his injury only added to the team's woes. 

Poor chasing record

MI have the joint-worst chasing record in the ongoing season, having won just two out of five matches while pursuing targets. The collective batting failure and the absence of a proper finisher often led to them falling short of their targets, despite possessing one of the strongest batting lineups of the season.

Consistent injuries hurt playing combination

MI have also been marred with constant injuries as they’ve used most players in the tournament (24). It all started with star batter Rohit Sharma injuring his hamstring against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Later, his replacement Quinton de Kock, who smashed a century in his first game, also suffered a wrist injury and missed several games, forcing MI to again opt for a new opening combination.

Left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner also struggled with his shoulder before being permanently ruled out of the season. All in all, the recurring injuries also proved to be a major roadblock in Mumbai’s smooth campaign as they couldn’t build an ideal playing combination.

Harsh decisions on the way?

As another poor season comes to a close for MI, they’ve now achieved their longest stretch (six seasons) without winning the trophy. Since their last triumph in 2020, MI have only made it to the playoffs twice in six years, getting knocked out in Qualifier 2 both times. Moreover, they've also lost most matches (49) since the 2021 edition and won just 36 out of 85 games, finishing last twice.

With three more games remaining in the season, the MI management will now look to test their bench strength as some harsh decisions are likely to follow ahead of the auction for the next season.