Several old players in the team are no longer performing, and yet MI seems to have no intention of letting them go
On the evening of April 16, the five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) will take on the Punjab Kings, who are in second place. Unfortunately, the Mumbai Indians are ninth on the table with only 2 points from 4 matches, and their current situation is largely due to the franchise not letting go of old players. The core team that Mumbai had still exists, but it no longer fits into the IPL scheme of things.
MI’s core performance
Apart from the first game versus the Kolkata Knight Riders, MI’s core, including the likes of Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma, has failed to attain the strike rate needed for scoring above 200 runs in the IPL, which is the new 150. Mumbai needed new youngsters in the team, like Priyansh Arya or Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who can consistently play with a strike rate of 170-180 and give the team a massive push in the Power Play itself.
Retention issue
Retention has also been an issue for MI, which spent 75 crore on retaining old players and entered the mini auction with only 45 crore left in the purse. The team did not retain Ishan Kishan, who was struggling at one point, but wouldn’t it have been better to back Kishan rather than Rohit Sharma, who has already retired from T20 internationals and has no game time in the format?
ISHAN KISHAN IN IPL 2026 :
— Maina Singh (@Maina_Singhx77) April 13, 2026
- 80 (38) vs RCB.
- 14 (9) vs KKR.
- 1 (4) vs LSG.
- 27 (17) vs PBKS.
- 91 (44) vs RR. [TONIGHT] pic.twitter.com/xDLDLsVv6t
Moving on, Tilak Varma, who was retained in place of Tim David, is not a player who can always finish the great with hefty strike rates. The auction had several players who could replicate Varma’s batting style – in fact, many are capable of finishing the game at a strike rate of 200.
Even Suryakumar Yadav is no longer suitable in the format, and his place in the Indian team is questionable.
Moving on to bowlers, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar and Markande are IPL season players who work at times but not always. Trent Boult is no longer in his prime, whereas Jasprit Bumrah can last a few more seasons.
Captaincy & friction
🏆 GT – IPL 2022 Champions
— Sportskeeda (@Sportskeeda) May 30, 2025
🥈 GT – IPL 2023 Finalists
🔥 MI – IPL 2025 Qualifier 2
Can MI's skipper Hardik Pandya recreate the magic he did with Gujarat Titans and take them to the finals? 🤔#IPL2025 #GTvMI #HardikPandya pic.twitter.com/lUuyjhfJmh
There is no doubt that Hardik Pandya's appointment as captain did not sit well with many senior players in the team. At that point, MI should’ve brought in more young players who would’ve followed Pandya without any ego. Take his time at the Gujarat Titans when he led the team to an IPL title – the team mostly comprised players who were either youngsters or experienced players from other countries. Very few experienced Indian players were on that team, but they knew they were not captain material.
Coaches out of loyalty
Kieron Pollard had a lighthearted moment with Rohit Sharma, placing a box in front of him and jokingly saying, “Put 15 crore in this since you’ve completed 15 years with Mumbai Indians, and we’ll share it among ourselves because we are one family.”pic.twitter.com/fIgVbbz09b
— MK Sharma ✍️ (@EmediaManoj) April 10, 2026
Last but not least, coaches like Lasith Malinga and Kieron Pollard need to be replaced, as they are on the team only because of their long-term association with the franchise. Loyalty is fine as long as the team is going in the right direction, but unfortunately, that is no longer the case with MI.
