IPL 2026: 'Not the season' - Hardik Pandya expresses discontent after CSK annihilate MI
Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya admitted “not the season” after MI suffered an eight-wicket loss to Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2026. MI managed only 159/7 despite Naman Dhir’s 57, while Noor Ahmad and Anshul Kamboj starred with the ball for CSK. Ruturaj Gaikwad’s unbeaten 67 and Kartik Sharma’s 54 not out guided Chennai to victory, further hurting Mumbai’s fading playoff hopes.
NEW DELHI: Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya admitted IPL 2026 has simply not gone according to plan after MI slumped to an eight-wicket defeat against Chennai Super Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Saturday. “Not the season. They played better, they bowled better, they fielded better and they batted better.
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,” Hardik said after the loss. The defeat further damaged Mumbai Indians’ fading playoff hopes as they suffered their seventh loss of the season.
Despite winning the toss and choosing to bat first, MI never truly gained control of the match and finished with a below-par 159 for 7. Naman Dhir was the lone bright spot for Mumbai with a fighting 57 off 37 balls, while Ryan Rickelton added 37 at the top. However, captain Hardik struggled for fluency, managing just 18 runs from 23 deliveries as MI repeatedly lost momentum during the middle overs.