MI coach Mahela Jayawardene breaks silence after Mumbai Indians’ IPL 2026 elimination, says…

Mahela Jayawardene admitted Mumbai Indians failed to deliver consistently this season after their playoff hopes ended following a heartbreaking last-ball defeat to Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Sunday.

The dramatic loss officially knocked Mumbai out of the IPL 2026 playoff race, leaving the five-time champions with only pride to play for in their remaining matches.

RCB hold nerve in tense final over

Mumbai posted 166/7 after recovering from early trouble, but RCB stayed in the chase thanks to a brilliant 73 from Krunal Pandya on a difficult batting surface.

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The match went down to the final over, where young all-rounder Raj Angad Bawa was handed the responsibility of defending 15 runs.

Bawa removed Romario Shepherd under pressure, but Bhuvneshwar Kumar turned the game with a crucial six before RCB scrambled through for the winning runs on the last ball.

Jayawardene backs Raj Bawa after pressure-filled final over

Despite the defeat, Jayawardene supported the youngster and explained why the team trusted Bawa in such a tense moment.

“All our experienced bowlers were done with their quota and we only had a few spinners left. Surya backed himself while Raj is also a decent bowler. During training he executes those wide yorkers consistently.

“He stuck to his line and picked the wicket of (Romario) Shepherd. He too was under pressure. We fought well; it was a game of margins. Probably we should have executed better at the end.”

‘We were not good enough’: Jayawardene reflects on MI’s season

Mumbai have now lost eight matches in 11 games, ending a disappointing campaign for one of the IPL’s most successful franchises.

Jayawardene admitted the team had enough chances during the season but failed to deliver consistently with both bat and ball.

“The season, it’s disappointing. We’ve had our opportunities. We were not good enough. We were not consistent enough with the ball, with the bat, and that showed the margins. We were probably two-three wins away from being in the same group of contenders to get into that playoff. But we didn’t get those wins, and was another classic example that we were short.

“So, it’s difficult for me to sum up a season right now. I have to give it some thought as well and then figure out exactly what has gone wrong. But, we were not good enough with our skills and execution this season,” said Jayawardene.

Injuries and unavailable players hurt MI campaign

The former Sri Lanka captain also pointed to injuries and player availability issues as factors behind Mumbai’s difficult season, though he made it clear that the team cannot hide behind excuses.

“We had players with niggles, some were injured while some were not available. So, the changes were forced ones. Tactically we would have had just a few of them. There are no excuses. We have a quality side and we had to put our hands up and perform. Unfortunately, that did not happen.“

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