Mumbai Indians (MI) regular skipper Hardik Pandya has missed two matches in IPL 2026 so far, and on both occasions, Suryakumar Yadav has stepped up to lead the side.
With Hardik missing these couple of games, the debate over the Mumbai Indians captaincy has reached a boiling point, and their win over Lucknow Super Giants under Suryakumar Yadav has led to some fans calling for SKY to take over MI captaincy.
Hardik Pandya returned to Mumbai Indians from Gujarat Titans (GT) ahead of IPL 2024, and was named the new skipper of the five-time champions as he took over from Rohit Sharma.
However, MI endured a 10th place finish in IPL 2024, and fell short of qualifying for the final in IPL 2025 after they lost to Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Qualifier 2.
Mumbai Indians are currently languishing in ninth place with six points from 10 matches in the IPL 206 standings.
Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav: Captaincy stats compared
When it comes to Mumbai Indians' captaincy, Hardik Pandya has led the team in way more matches than SKY. He has led MI in 37 matches since taking over as their skipper ahead of IPL 2024, but his team has won just 15 matches under him. Mumbai Indians have lost 22 matches under Hardik, who has a win percentage of just 40.54.
Suryakumar Yadav, on the other hand, has led Mumbai Indians in just four matches. He has a 50% win record, winning two matches and losing as many games.
When it comes to captaining India in T20Is, SKY has led the Men in Blue more than Hardik. He has led India in 52 T20Is, winning 40 and losing just 12. Suryakumar Yadav enjoys a win percentage of 76.92, and even led India to the T20 World Cup title earlier this year. Hardik Pandya, meanwhile, has led India in just 16 T20Is, winning 10 matches and losing five, and one match ending in a tie.
What former cricketers have said
Former India all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin believes that Suryakumar Yadav should have been named MI skipper instead of Hardik Pandya.
“Suryakumar Yadav not being the captain of the Mumbai Indians is a no-brainer. Usko captaincy dena hi chahiye (He should definitely be the captain). And the fact that it isn’t happening, I’m sure, is a bit of a concern,” Ashwin had said on his YouTube channel.
Manij Tiwary, another former cricketer, also said that Hardik is not the right choice to lead MI.
"Hardik is not leading the team the way it should be. It's very important to be proactive as a captain. I think that if a solution is needed, Hardik should step back from the captaincy and hand the responsibility back to Rohit. When you removed Rohit, you did an injustice," he said on Cricbuzz.
