Hardik Pandya parting ways with Mumbai Indians after IPL 2026 Exit? Here's the reason

Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya is currently sidelined from participating in IPL 2026 matches due to a back spasm. Nevertheless, he continues to remain at the centre of discussions on social media. Following a recent defeat against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, the Mumbai Indians team has officially been eliminated from the race for the playoffs. In the last few days, a rumour suddenly spread that sent shockwaves through the cricketing world. According to reports, in the wake of the Mumbai Indians' elimination from the playoffs, Hardik Pandya allegedly unfollowed the franchise on Instagram.

These discussions began following the RCB vs MI match, in which MI suffered their eighth defeat of IPL 2026, becoming the second team, after LSG, to be officially knocked out of the playoff race.

It is believed that Hardik's Instagram profile showed him following 150 accounts, a list that notably excluded the Mumbai Indians. Subsequently, this news spread like wildfire across social media. Some fans linked this development to rumours of internal tensions within the franchise following yet another disappointing IPL season. However, these discussions took a new turn shortly thereafter; when fans checked his account again, the number of accounts he followed had risen back to 151, and MI had reappeared on Hardik's following list. 

Consequently, the prevailing sentiment now is that everything has been resolved, that the Mumbai Indians management, despite the disappointing season, continues to back Hardik's captaincy and does not view his leadership as the sole reason behind the team's struggles.

Whether Hardik Pandya actually unfollowed the Mumbai Indians, only to follow them back to prevent the matter from blowing out of proportion, or if this was all merely a technical glitch, nothing can be officially stated regarding this at the moment.

The Mumbai Indians had released Hardik Pandya before the 2022 IPL auction; he subsequently led the Gujarat Titans to victory in the 2022 IPL, while the team reached the final in 2023. However, ahead of the 2024 IPL season, MI re-acquired Hardik Pandya through an all-cash trade deal and handed over the team's captaincy to him, replacing Rohit Sharma. Yet, Hardik Pandya's captaincy at MI proved to be a failure, and the team failed to win the title for the third consecutive year.

This season, Hardik Pandya failed miserably not only as a captain but also as an all-rounder. Nevertheless, MI also had to contend with numerous player injuries and the poor form of several players throughout the season, factors that served as the primary reasons for the team's current predicament.