‘Not the season’: Hardik Pandya admits MI’s campaign falling apart after heavy CSK defeat

Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya openly admitted that his team’s IPL 2026 campaign has failed to take off after another crushing defeat, this time an eight-wicket loss to Chennai Super Kings on Saturday.

Mumbai once again fell short with the bat, putting up just 159/7. Naman Dhir was the only batter who looked comfortable, scoring 57, while the rest of the lineup failed to build partnerships.

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In response, CSK chased down the target comfortably in 18.1 overs, keeping their playoff hopes alive.

Mumbai, meanwhile, are now in a tough position, sitting ninth on the table with just four points after losing seven of their nine matches.

‘Not the season’: Pandya’s honest admission

After the match, Pandya didn’t try to hide his disappointment and summed up MI’s season in a few blunt words.

“Not the season,” he said, admitting that neither the batting nor the bowling unit has clicked consistently.

He also gave full credit to CSK for dominating in all departments.

“They (CSK) played better, they bowled better, they fielded better and they batted better,” he added.

MI fell short of par total, says Pandya

The MI skipper felt his team needed at least 180-190 runs to stay competitive in the match.

“(A score of) 180-190 should have been a good total. We couldn’t get the momentum. It was more about playing calculative cricket. Overall, as a bowling unit, they were better and as a batting unit, we weren’t better. The bowling options which we had, we went with it,” he said.

‘They were better’: MI captain on lack of bowling options

When asked whether his bowlers needed to be more aggressive, Pandya pointed out that the team simply didn’t have enough firepower on the day.

“I don’t know what aggressive we would have been. I think we would have had to throw some fireballs to get them out. But, yeah, it was, the bowling option which we had, we went with it and they just played smart cricket. And yeah, they were better.”

MI’s playoff hopes hanging by a thread

While Mumbai are still mathematically in the race, their campaign is now hanging by a thread. With seven losses already, they will need a near-perfect run in the remaining matches to stay alive in IPL 2026.