Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has once again launched a scathing attack on Hardik Pandya’s captaincy despite Mumbai Indians’ comprehensive 99-run victory over Gujarat Titans in their IPL 2026 away match on April 20 in Ahmedabad. Manjrekar has questioned whether MI’s decision-making was more emotional and brand-based than pure cricketing logic.
Pandya, who returned to the Mumbai Indians in 2024 as captain, has not been able to make the kind of impact the franchise was hoping for. Although he arrived with great leadership success from the Gujarat Titans, his return home has so far been uneven in the league.
Hardik Pandya’s journey to IPL captaincy with Mumbai Indians under the scanner
The 2024 season was a big setback for the five-time IPL champions as they finished at the bottom of the points table. However, they showed some improvement and managed to reach Qualifier 2 in 2025, giving fans some hope that the team was getting back on track.
And even MI got off to a winning start to their IPL 2026 campaign but then lost four matches in a row before shocking the Gujarat Titans on Monday.
Observing Hardik’s journey to captaincy closely, Manjrekar has pointed out that his success with Gujarat Titans was not only due to his leadership but also to Ashish Nehra’s solid coaching.
The cricket expert has suggested that Mumbai Indians could have focused more on making a bold move when they brought Hardik back, rather than building the same support structure that helped him succeed before.
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Sanjay Manjrekar slams MI’s Hardik Pandya’s big decision amid fights
He boldly said that MI should have also brought in Gujarat Titans head coach Nehra if they wanted to succeed because the coach’s constant tactical inputs were the reason behind their success.
Sanjay Manjrekar said on Sportstar’s Insight Edge podcast: “Hardik Pandya to Mumbai Indians was a very interesting decision. I think sometimes franchises take decisions that are newsworthy and put them in the spotlight, because ultimately it’s a trademark. You can see the kind of valuations that franchises are getting.
Therefore, it may not even be a good cricketing decision. Hardik Pandya had success with the Gujarat Titans and that had a lot to do with someone called Ashish Nehra. So maybe if you wanted Hardik Pandya, you could have brought Ashish Nehra with him too.”
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GT coach’s magic was behind Pandya’s success: Sanjay Manjrekar
The cricket pandit feels that the GT team had a very active training setup which played an important role in on-field decisions, and that is why Pandya did well as captain and won the IPL 2022 trophy and then reached another final in 2023, where he lost the cup to CSK.
Manjrekar signed off by saying, “Hardik Pandya, I think, was brilliant because there was someone constantly by his side in almost every move he made on the field. So, it’s not really so much about Hardik, but about the decision, whether it was a sensible decision or just someone who wanted to think a little outside the box and do something a little sensational.”