Mumbai Indians (MI), once a formidable side, are currently languishing in ninth place in IPL 2026 with just two points from five games.
The five-time champions had begun their campaign with a six-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), but have suffered four consecutive defeats ever since.
Their latest defeat was a seven-wicket loss to the Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.
Ravichandran Ashwin on Mumbai Indians “feeling the fatigue”
According to former India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin, several Mumbai Indians players might be feeling the fatigue of India's T20 World Cup triumph.
India captain Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah and Tilak Varma are among the MI players who were part of India's T20 World Cup triumph.
“I am now feeling that the fatigue after the T20 World Cup... might be taking a toll on the Mumbai Indians,” Ashwin said while speaking on his YouTube channel Ash ki Baat. "Previously, they used to get outplayed, but now it looks like they have no answers with the ball," he added.
Rohit Sharma, who retired from T20Is in 2024 after the T20 World Cup, began his IPL 2026 campaign with a knock of 78 against Kolkata Knight Riders, but hasn't been able to discover that kind of form ever since.
In the game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) last week, Rohit retired after sustaining a hamstring injury, and he missed Thursday's match against Punjab Kings.
In the bowling department, pacer Jasprit Bumrah has failed to take a single wicket in the tournament so far. He has gone wicketless for five matches, his longest-ever period without taking a wicket in the IPL.
A few days ago, Ashwin had criticised Hardik Pandya’s captaincy following MI’s loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), terming it “very, very average”.
"Rajat Patidar is a monster hitter against spinners. When he came to bat, you gave the ball to Markande straight away? Not the smartest of moves. Very, very average. It is very important to understand what Markande thinks. Patidar hit him and washed him in Hyderabad, and here, he hit him from the very first ball again,” he had said.
The Hardik Pandya-led side will next take on Hardik’s former team Gujarat Titans (GT) in Ahmedabad on Monday.