Mumbai Indians (MI) who were eliminated following their loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), may name a new captain for their next Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 match against Punjab Kings (PBKS) on May 14 (Thursday), according to reports. MI have already had two captains this season. Hardik Pandya led them in the initial stages and has missed the last two matches due to a back injury. Suryakumar Yadav took over as a result.
However, with Hardik yet to recover and Surya unavailable for the match, MI are now forced to name a new skipper. The toss-up is likely to be between Tilak Varma and Jasprit Bumrah. Bumrah, who has played 156 matches for MI, has never led the franchise. But he has led India in three Tests. Tilak Varma, on the other hand, is also a plausible candidate as he was recently handed the India A captaincy for a tri-series against Sri Lanka.
Not to forget, MI also have five-time IPL-winning captain Rohit Sharma at their disposal, but it is believed that the franchise is unlikely to look in that direction.
The five-time champions have nothing but pride to play for in the season now. They have failed to make it to the playoffs twice in the last five seasons. On both occasions, they did not make the top four, MI finished bottom of the points table.
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