3 min readUpdated: Mar 25, 2026 09:38 AM IST
Ahead of the Indian Premier League’s 2026 edition, former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has said that Suryakumar Yadav has a strong case to be made the Mumbai Indians captain. However, Ashwin also pointed out that current MI captain Hardik Pandya is not short of credentials to stay captain either.
Mumbai’s captaincy has been under the lens for the past two seasons since Hardik returned to Mumbai after two seasons in charge of Gujarat Titans, where he led them to the title in 2022 and then reached the final in 2023. While Mumbai Indians’ decision to replace long-time captain Rohit Sharma at the helm with Hardik in 2024 cause plenty of anger in the fans, this year there will be one more strong claimant to the Mumbai captaincy role: Yadav, who only recently led the Indian cricket team to another T20 World Cup title.
“Suryakumar Yadav not being the captain of Mumbai Indians is a no-brainer. Usko captaincy dena hi chahiye (He should definitely be the captain). And the fact that it isn’t happening, I’m sure, is a bit of a concern,” Ashwin said on his YouTube show Ash Ki Baat.
But then, Ashwin also talked up the captaincy credentials of the current captain Hardik Pandya. After a woeful first season in charge at Mumbai, last season Hardik was able to inspire the franchise to the playoffs.
“We should also look at Hardik’s captaincy credentials. Hardik Pandya, as the Gujarat Titans captain, won a title in his first season and the team was the runner-up in the second. When he came to Mumbai, the expectation was that he would be the captain and continue that trend. However, his first year was spent just handling the whole Rohit Sharma saga.
IPL 2026: Mumbai have two World Cup-winning captains, Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav, playing under Hardik Pandya. (PTI Photo)
“Now he has to contend with a lot of people telling him that Suryakumar Yadav is the incumbent Indian team captain, yet Hardik is the captain of Mumbai. It’s a very challenging situation; a lot of things could be going through his mind. But I don’t think Hardik Pandya, the captain, lacks credentials—he does have them. He did a great job with the captaincy for Gujarat Titans.
“Leaving [external issues] aside, without any pressure and with the support of the players and management, I still think Hardik can do a fine job. He just needs to use this squad that he has in the right way,” Ashwin added.
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Ashwin’s comments come on the heels of comments made by former India captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth, where he urged Hardik to “say no to captaincy and allow Surya to lead”.
Ashwin then predicted that Mumbai Indians were good enough on paper to reach the final of this season’s IPL.
“Mumbai Indians—like I said—do not have even one small reason to say that they will not make the top two this year. If injury problems don’t cause a major setback, I can see them comfortably getting into the top two. In fact, Mumbai can carry two or three out of form players and yet win the season,” Ashwin predicted.
