Mumbai Indians (MI) have endured a tough campaign in the ongoing IPL 2026 season, becoming the second team to face elimination from the race to playoffs. Amid a difficult period, Hardik Pandya has faced heat because of his underwhelming leadership skills and poor performance as a player. Former India player Sanjay Manjrekar has backed star India player to be the next MI captain after Hardik.
Sanjay Manjrekar backs Jasprit Bumrah to become next MI skipper
In an interaction with Sportstar, Sanjay Manjrekar has opined that the Mumbai-based side might have to look beyond the star India all-rounder, as the move has not worked well in the favor of the side.
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“You actually caught what I was hinting at, because I think they might have to look beyond Hardik Pandya. Yeah, because that move certainly hasn’t worked," said Manjrekar.
While talking further, Sanjay Manjrekar picked Jasprit Bumrah as Hardik's successor at MI as it is not a burden on him like Test cricket, where he has to be fit enough and play every game to become a skipper of the side.
"It’s not fair to Hardik as well. It’s like a package deal. You know, if Hardik was going to come to Mumbai, then they should have got Ashish Nehra as well with him. But Ashish won’t be with him. I’d really like to see Bumrah being given a shot because that is not as much of a burden on him as being a Test captain, where he has to stay fit and ready for every Test match,” Manjrekar added.
Next stop for MI
After facing elimination, MI will lock horns with Shreyas Iyer's Punjab Kings in their upcoming clash on Thursday, May 14 at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala.
Currently, MI sit at ninth place with only six points in hand after playing 11 matches (three victories and eight losses) in the tournament at a net run rate of -0.585. It will be interesting to see if MI can finish the tournament on a good note by winning all the remaining games.