IPL 2026 | 'Lot of things need to be rethought': Hardik Pandya reacts after MI’s third straight defeat

Mumbai Indians have had a poor start to their IPL 2026 campaign, suffering three consecutive losses. Their latest defeat came against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Wankhede Stadium, leaving skipper Hardik Pandya searching for answers. Earlier, they had also suffered a heavy defeat to Rajasthan Royals in a rain-shortened 11-over clash in Guwahati. MI’s bowling unit once again came under pressure as RCB piled up an imposing 240/4, their highest total at the Wankhede.

During the chase, things worsened when Rohit Sharma had to leave the field due to injury. Meanwhile, Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma struggled to accelerate, leaving too much to be done in the death overs. Although Sherfane Rutherford and Hardik Pandya struck a few big shots towards the end, MI still fell short, losing by 18 runs and having their third straight defeat.

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After the match, Hardik said the team has been reacting to situations instead of controlling the game. He said they need to think again about their plans and improve both batting and bowling.

“I think that was always going to be catch-up. I think it’s been the last couple of games as a bowling unit or even as a batting unit, we’ve been quite catching up to the game rather than leading the game. Really need to reflect, really need to see what best we can do and how we can get that momentum and that click which we require,” said Pandya.

The skipper added that even though they won the toss, it didn’t help and the team needs to perform better in all areas.

“To be very honest, now a lot of things need to be rethought. Definitely, it’s not working. A couple of games, we have won the toss, but maybe we need to see what the other options are, as well as the batting group or bowling group that we can have. We still need to bat well, we still need to bowl well, irrespective of the toss,” admitted Hardik.

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Pandya further praised Rutherford’s contribution, noting that his form provides both flexibility and confidence as the team looks to make necessary adjustments moving forward.

“When we got Rutherford, it was always exciting for us. We always knew the kind of potential and the kind of power he has and the way he batted, it just gives us extra cushion and at the same time confidence, if we want to make some changes or we want to see what this team requires, we can definitely do it because of the way he is batting,” said Pandya.