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Mumbai Indians (MI) batting coach Kieron Pollard made a brutally honest admission regarding skipper Hardik Pandya after MI’s disastrous Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 campaign came to an end with another defeat.
Mumbai Indians finished ninth in the 10-team points table after suffering a 30-run defeat against Rajasthan Royals in their final league-stage game.
Following the defeat, Pollard openly admitted that Pandya’s captaincy stint this season did not go according to plan for either the player or the franchise.
Kieron Pollard makes honest admission on Hardik Pandya’s captaincy
Speaking after MI’s final game of the season, Pollard acknowledged that the franchise had expected much better results under Pandya’s leadership.
"From a leadership perspective on Hardik, yes, it has not gone as well as he would have wanted as an individual."
The former MI star also stated that the management had done everything possible to support Hardik Pandya throughout the campaign.
"It might not have gone how we would have wanted as a management staff."
"But one thing you (should) know that we have tried each and everything to give him the best opportunity to lead the franchise, to do well."
Kieron Pollard further stressed that the failures of the season should not be pinned entirely on the captain and instead should be viewed collectively.
"No one is going to sit here and put blame or point fingers."
"When you lose, especially, you have to look at it from a collective perspective."
The MI batting coach insisted that everyone within the setup had tried their best, but things simply failed to click for the five-time IPL champions this season.
"He (Pandya) was trying; we all were trying, and it just didn't work out for us."
"For us, let us just lick our wounds in this time and hopefully come back stronger in the 12 months."
Pollard hints MI will reassess squad after poor IPL 2026 campaign
When asked whether Mumbai Indians needed a complete reboot considering the number of senior players in the squad, Pollard avoided making any immediate conclusions.
Instead, he said the franchise first needs time to properly assess what exactly went wrong during the season.
"Right now is not the time and place to talk about that."
"Everyone needs that time and space to go sit down, recollect, have a fair assessment as to where everything actually went wrong for us."
Kieron Pollard also warned against taking emotional decisions immediately after a disappointing campaign.
"If you sit here right now and say you need to do this, you need to do that, that would be irresponsible from a management perspective."
Mumbai Indians endured one of their worst IPL campaigns in recent years, winning only four matches throughout the tournament despite boasting a star-studded lineup featuring players like Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya himself.
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