2 min readUpdated: Mar 22, 2026 06:16 PM IST
The Mumbai Indians are set to court an increasingly unique situation in the IPL 2026 season, where two T20 World Cup-winning captains will play under another leader. With Suryakumar Yadav joining Rohit Sharma with a T20 World Cup triumph earlier this month, MI skipper Hardik Pandya will have plenty of experience to draw inspiration from after two lacklustre editions as skipper of the five-time champions.
Hardik’s high-profile return to MI in 2024 as captain, displacing Rohit, did not go according to plan, as MI finished at the bottom of the standings for the first time in history. With a star-studded roster still intact, Mumbai made amends last year, qualifying for the Playoffs under Pandya but still failing to reach the finals.
With their IPL finals absence extending over five seasons now, former India captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth wants Mumbai to hand over the captaincy reins to India T20I captain Suryakumar.
‘Sort out the internal policy’
“It’s a funny situation. Hardik Pandya is a good captain. But, yes, they have two T20 World Cup-winning captains playing under him now. It’s some internal policy within their setup that they have to sort out. From the outside, the obvious choice should be Suryakumar Yadav. But this might be a franchise policy,” Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.
The former India captain said that Hardik himself could sort out the situation by relinquishing captaincy for Suryakumar, who has yet to lead a franchise in full-time capacity in the IPL. Despite his middling returns as Mumbai captain, Hardik led Gujarat Titans to the title in their first season in 2022 and has an impressive overall recording, winning 35 out of 60 matches as a leader.
“It’s a strange situation as Hardik played under Rohit and Surya to win India the World Cup. Otherwise, Hardik should himself say no to captaincy and allow Surya to lead. If Hardik himself says this to the management, things will get resolved. He should say, ‘Let Surya lead and I’ll support’. That’s one way of solving it,” said Srikkanth.
