There is an unusual kind of discomfort that settles into a dressing room when the person leading the side is not the person most people in the stands, or in the commentary box, believe should be. Mumbai Indians have lived with that discomfort for two seasons now.
As IPL 2026 approaches, with the franchise set to open their campaign against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede on March 29, Ravichandran Ashwin has given voice to what much of the Mumbai Indian fanbase has been thinking quietly: Suryakumar Yadav should be the captain of this team.
Speaking on his YouTube show Ash Ki Baat, the recently retired off-spinner was characteristically direct. “Suryakumar Yadav being the captain of the Mumbai Indians is a no-brainer. Usko captaincy dena hi chahiye. And the fact that it isn’t happening, I’m sure, is a bit of a concern.” The words landed with weight. This was not a reactive social media take. It was a considered verdict from a man who played 16 IPL seasons and understands the internal mechanics of franchise cricket as well as anyone in the country.
The context that gives Ashwin’s observation its edge is recent and undeniable. Just weeks before IPL 2026 begins, Suryakumar Yadav led India to the T20 World Cup title, with a dominant display in the final, marshalling a squad that included the very man currently holding his franchise’s captaincy. Hardik Pandya, who will captain Mumbai Indians this season, played a supporting role in that triumph under Suryakumar’s leadership.
The optics, as Ashwin observed, are not easy to manage. “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.”
To be fair to Pandya, and Ashwin was careful to be so, this is not a simple case of the wrong man holding the armband. Hardik’s captaincy record in the IPL is not one to dismiss lightly. He led the Gujarat Titans to the title in their very first season in 2022, finished as runners-up the following year, and currently holds a win percentage of 58.33 across 60 matches as an IPL captain. Those are the numbers of a leader who knows what he is doing.
The problem, as Ashwin framed it, is that his first season at Mumbai was spent managing a saga that had nothing to do with cricket tactics and everything to do with the awkward business of replacing a beloved club icon. Rohit Sharma had been the heartbeat of the Mumbai Indians for over a decade. His removal from the captaincy was never going to be clean, and Hardik absorbed the fallout of that decision entirely, to the point of being booed at his own home ground during the 2024 season.
IPL 2025 offered a partial reprieve. Mumbai reached the playoffs before losing to Punjab Kings in Qualifier 2, courtesy of a Shreyas Iyer masterclass. The team improved. The noise around Pandya quietened somewhat. But the 2026 squad, as assembled, has introduced a new layer of complexity. Suryakumar arrives at the Wankhede as a World Cup-winning captain. Rohit Sharma, still the franchise’s emotional centre of gravity, remains in the squad as a senior player. Jasprit Bumrah, arguably the most important cricketer on the planet in white-ball conditions, is present. This is not a roster that needs careful handling because it is fragile. It needs careful handling because it is extraordinarily talented and, in that particular way, capable of becoming its own worst enemy as only they can stop themselves.
Kris Srikkanth, the former India captain, went further than Ashwin in his assessment, suggesting that Pandya himself could resolve the tension by proactively stepping aside. “If at all, there is an issue in the leadership group, the best solution to it would be Hardik putting his hand up and saying, ‘Let Surya lead.'” It is a bold suggestion, one that would require an uncommon combination of self-awareness and generosity of spirit from a man who has only just begun to win back the trust of the crowd.
Ashwin stopped short of calling for that outcome. His conclusion was more nuanced, and ultimately more charitable to both men. Given full support, free of external noise and fan pressure, he believes Hardik Pandya can still lead this squad effectively and deliver the sixth IPL title Mumbai have been chasing since 2020. “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 needs to use this squad in the right way.”
Whether the franchise agrees, and whether the dressing room follows, is the question that will define Mumbai Indians’ IPL 2026. The talent is there. The armband is assigned. And in the seat next to the captain sits a man who, by every external measure, has just proved he can win a World Cup with it. It will be interesting to see how this season plays out for one of the IPL’s most hallowed teams.
