There seems to be no end to the captaincy saga at Mumbai Indians (MI), as former India batter Kris Srikkanth has urged skipper Hardik Pandya to hand over the leadership baton to Suryakumar Yadav. Boasting one of the strongest squads on paper, MI last won the IPL in 2020 under Rohit Sharma‘s captaincy. Hardik rejoined MI in 2024 via a high-profile trade from Gujarat Titans, whom he led to the title in their inaugural season in 2022. However, following a playoff exit in 2025, calls for a leadership change have intensified ahead of the 2026 season.
However, the franchise immediately appointed him as captain that season, sparking rumours of a possible rift between Hardik and former captain Rohit Sharma. The management’s decision faced further criticism from fans after MI finished at the bottom of the table in 2024. While the side showed signs of recovery by reaching the playoffs in 2025, the trophy drought has kept the leadership debate alive heading into the new season.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Srikkanth urged the team management, including Hardik, Rohit, and Surya, to come together and decide on a clear roadmap for the future. He called the leadership situation a strange one, pointing out how two World Cup-winning captains – Rohit and Suryakumar – are playing under Hardik.
“They have to come together again, the franchise owners and the team management with Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, and Hardik Pandya, and set this right again. They should ask Surya to lead this year to see if there is a change of luck. They can always appoint Surya as the captain anytime. They don’t need to announce it right now. 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,” said Srikkanth.
The former BCCI selector also called for Hardik to voluntarily hand over the captaincy to Suryakumar Yadav, who recently led India to the 2026 T20 World Cup title in a dominant campaign.
“It’s a strange situation, as Hardik played under Rohit and Surya to help India win 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,” Srikkanth explained.