New Delhi:Mumbai Indians endured a nightmare 2026 campaign, ending up ninth on the points table after succumbing to their 10th loss of the season against Rajasthan Royals on Sunday, May 24. ’s captaincy of the franchise has been under the microscope after he didn’t lead them to the playoffs in two of the three seasons since taking over in 2024. Batting coach Kieron Pollard spoke about his captaincy and he could have to answer some questions about it.
After MI’s loss to RR at home, Pollard said Hardik’s leadership has not gone along with what he or the franchise wanted. “From a leadership point of view on Hardik, yes, it has not gone as well as he would have wanted as an individual,” Pollard said after the 30-run defeat. "Maybe it didn't go as we as a management group would have wanted it to go, either. "But one thing you should know is we tried everything we could to give him the best opportunity to lead the franchise and succeed.
Pandya tried but it didn't come off, said Pollard.While praising Hardik’s captaincy, the former MI all-rounder didn’t blame him as the sole reason behind the team’s yet another poor season where they finished ninth in the 10-team points table.No one is going to sit there and blame or point fingers. Especially when you lose, you have to look at it as a team. You win some, you lose some . But at the end of the day I wouldn’t question the effort,” he said.
“He (Pandya) was trying. We all were trying and it just didn’t work out for us. You sit down and you talk and you figure out what’s best going forward. You never know what’s going to happen. Now we need to lick our wounds and hopefully come back stronger over the next 12 months," Pollard added.
Pollard urges MI to avoid rash decisions after disastrous campaignThe batting coach also said that the franchise would review internally but would not rush to decisions. When asked by reporters if the team needed a reboot given the number of senior members in the squad, Pollard replied: "That's not the time or place to talk about that right now.
“All these decisions can be emotional if done on the spot. We all need time and space to sit down, think properly and fairly assess where things actually went wrong for us. That’s where good decision-making comes in. “If you sit here right now and say I’ve got to do this or that, it would be irresponsible from a management standpoint,” he said.
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