The new season of IPL is now approaching, and all teams are busy finalizing their preparations. This time, the tournament will kick off on March 28 with a match between RCB and Sunrisers Hyderabad. As every year, special attention will be on Mumbai Indians, who have won the title five times so far. However, the past few seasons have been disappointing for the team.
Meanwhile, discussions about the team’s captaincy have intensified. The question is whether Suryakumar Yadav can be handed the reins of Mumbai Indians. A statement from former Indian team batsman Kris Srikkanth has emerged on this issue, further fueling the debate.
It is noteworthy that Mumbai Indians won their last IPL title in 2020, and then the team was led by Rohit Sharma. Under Rohit’s captaincy, the team won all five of its titles. For the past two seasons, the captaincy has been in the hands of Hardik Pandya, but during this period, the team’s performance has not been as expected. In 2024, when Hardik was made captain in place of Rohit, the team’s performance was quite weak, and they finished at the bottom of the points table. Due to this, Hardik also faced criticism from fans.
In 2025, Mumbai Indians’ performance improved to some extent, and the team succeeded in reaching the playoffs and securing a spot in the top-4. However, despite this, the team could not reach the title. For the past nearly five years, Mumbai Indians have been away from the trophy, even though the team has big names and strong players. In the upcoming season, Hardik Pandya might be seen captaining the team for the third consecutive time.
Meanwhile, former Indian batsman Kris Srikkanth made a big statement, saying that the team’s command should be handed over to Suryakumar Yadav. He believes that Hardik Pandya can play an important role as a player in helping the team win the title.
Recently, Suryakumar Yadav led Team India to victory in the T20 World Cup under his captaincy. It was his first ICC tournament as captain, and he succeeded in making the team champions. Srikkanth says that by giving Suryakumar the captaincy, it should be seen whether the team’s performance can improve under his leadership. He suggested that the team management should discuss this issue by sitting down with Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, and Hardik Pandya. These things were shared by Srikkanth on his YouTube channel.
Kris Srikkanth, expressing his opinion on the matter, said that an interesting situation is going to arise in Mumbai Indians, where two T20 World Cup-winning captains might be seen playing under the leadership of Hardik Pandya. He stated that in 2024, India won the T20 World Cup under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy, while in 2026, the team won the title again under Suryakumar Yadav’s captaincy.
Now, these two players might play under Hardik Pandya’s captaincy in Mumbai Indians, which is a special thing in itself. Srikkanth believes that if Hardik himself decides to step down from captaincy, the situation could become easier for the team.
He also added that Hardik Pandya has played an important role in helping India win the World Cup under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav, and now he should provide a similar contribution to Mumbai Indians in the IPL.
