It was expected to be the return of the prodigal son — or at least the narrative Mumbai Indians hoped to build. Instead, Hardik Pandya emerged as one of the most controversial figures in the franchise over the last three seasons.
He was booed by home fans, mercilessly trolled on social media and written off by several experts after Mumbai finished bottom of the table in his first season as captain in 2024. Hardik responded strongly in 2025, leading the side to the playoffs, where they reached Qualifier 2. But a year later, the criticism has returned.
Another disappointing campaign for Mumbai Indians, who were eliminated early from the playoff race after losing eight of their 11 matches, once again put Hardik under scrutiny. Off the field, tensions resurfaced as rumours spread on social media claiming that he had unfollowed the franchise on Instagram.
Apart from the off-field chatter, Hardik’s underwhelming performances and a series of questionable captaincy calls during IPL 2026 sparked speculation over whether Mumbai could reconsider not only his leadership role, but even his place in the squad.
MI told to ‘put an end’ to feuding
Speaking on Cricbuzz during MI’s match against Punjab Kings in Dharamsala, former India cricketer Rohan Gavaskar said Mumbai should retain Hardik for the 2027 season purely from a cricketing perspective — unless the dressing-room rumours are true.
“If you just talk about cricket, then retain him. But then you have all these rumours, which I’m not sure are true, about some dressing-room tension or off-field issues. If that is true, release him. If false, based on cricket, he must be retained because he is a top-quality player,” he said.
Hardik himself has endured a below-par season, scoring just 146 runs in eight innings at a strike rate of 136.44 while taking only four wickets at an economy rate of nearly 12.
Yet, Virender Sehwag disagreed with Gavaskar, insisting that Mumbai should retain Hardik regardless of any differences, arguing that dressing-room tensions can always be resolved but players of Hardik’s calibre are not easily replaceable.
“Irrespective of the rumours, I will retain him. You can always put an end to that. Those dressing-room differences, if true, can be settled. Because you have to play as a team. And Hardik is more valuable as a player. Mumbai Indians need him,” he said.
Sehwag then went a step further, bluntly stating that Hardik’s value exceeds his current ₹16.35 crore price tag and is closer to the ₹27 crore that Rishabh Pant fetched at the mega auction.
“Remember, he used to play well even when he was not the captain of Mumbai Indians. There were rumours even then. But I would still retain him. In fact, ₹16.35 crore is very little. He is a ₹27 crore player,” he added.
