Sanjay Manjrekar’s advice: Leaving Hardik behind, Mumbai Indians should now hand over the captaincy to this player.

IPL 2026 Updates: Sanjay Manjrekar has given a big statement regarding the captaincy of Mumbai Indians. After the poor performance of Mumbai Indians, Manjrekar clearly said that now the franchise needs to think beyond Hardik Pandya and hand over the command of the team to Jasprit Bumrah. Mumbai Indians’ journey in IPL 2026 is almost over. The team was out of the race for the playoffs after the last ball defeat against RCB in Raipur. The five-time champion team could register only 3 wins in 11 matches this season.

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Sanjay called Bumrah a better leader

While talking to Sportsstar, Manjrekar said that Bumrah understands the game very deeply and his captaincy ability is clearly visible. According to him, Bumrah not only bowls but also reads the thinking of the batsmen, the match situation and the pitch very well. Manjrekar said that he also wants to see Bumrah captaining India and he should definitely get a chance to captain at least in the IPL.

He also said that when Subhaman Gill was made the captain, he also did not have much captaincy experience. In such a situation, Mumbai Indians should show confidence in Bumrah.

Questions raised on Hardik’s captaincy

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Manjrekar also said in gestures that making Hardik Pandya the captain did not prove to be a successful decision for the team. He believes that coach Ashish Nehra had a big role in Hardik’s success at Gujarat Titans. He said that if Mumbai was bringing Hardik into the team, then it should have tried to bring Ashish Nehra along as well.
The performance of Mumbai Indians under the captaincy of Hardik Pandya has been constantly under question. The team has won only 2 in the 8 matches played under his leadership. Suryakumar Yadav captained in some matches, but the team could not leave much impact there too.