Hardik Pandya with teammate Suryakumar Yadav (PTI Photo)

Mumbai Indians will once again head into the Indian Premier League 2026 season as one of the strongest contenders on paper, boasting a star-studded lineup featuring Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Tilak Varma. Despite their formidable squad, the five-time champions have not lifted the trophy since their last triumph in 2020.The franchise underwent a major shift in 2024 when Hardik Pandya returned from Gujarat Titans and took over the captaincy from Rohit Sharma. The transition did not go smoothly, with fan backlash and on-field struggles culminating in a last-place finish that season. The following year saw improvement, as Mumbai reached the playoffs, but their campaign ended in Qualifier 2 with a defeat to Punjab Kings, led by Shreyas Iyer.Ahead of the 2026 season, former India selector Kris Srikkanth has weighed in on the leadership debate, suggesting a potential shift in captaincy. He believes that Suryakumar Yadav, fresh from leading India to T20 World Cup success, could be given the reins to see if it changes the team’s fortunes.“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,” Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.He further highlighted the unusual dynamic within the squad, pointing out that multiple World Cup-winning leaders are currently playing under Hardik.“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,” he added.Describing it as a “strange situation”, Srikkanth suggested that clarity could emerge if Hardik himself opts to step aside.“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,” said Srikkanth.Mumbai Indians will kick off their IPL 2026 campaign on March 29, facing Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli (Agency Image)

Quick quiz: Since the first T20 World Cup in 2007, how many players who played only ODI cricket have been part of a 50-over World Cup-winning side? Answer: None. In 2027, across Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, Rohit and Kohli would love to change that. Assuming, of course, that they will be picked. Having retired from Tests and T20Is, they now occupy a curious space: giant names, shrinking game-time. Which is why this IPL matters so much. It is their most visible audition. If both want to convince a team management and selection panel that has become increasingly ruthless and pragmatic, they need to perform over the next eight weeks for Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, respectively. That may sound dramatic. After all, few players have achieved more. But the road to the 2027 ODI World Cup will not be paved by reputation or old highlights. It will depend on present-day form and fitness. Both remain in the conversation, with captain Shubman Gill and others indicating as much. The harder question is whether they can last that long. For Rohit, who turns 39 on April 30, and Kohli, now 37, this IPL is a fitness test-cum-batting examination. Both are now one-format cricketers. Both must show they can endure a long, high-intensity campaign and still be standing in 2027. Fitness, though, is only half the issue. Form, that fickle friend, is the other. Ask any Indian cricketer what they fear most and the answer is simple: being out of sight, out of mind. That is what makes this IPL so important for Rohit and Kohli. It puts them back in view after public attention was seized by the heroes of India’s T20 World Cup triumph. ODIs are increasingly rare. India last played a five-match ODI series in Feb–March 2019. For single-format players, one poor series can mean a long wait for another chance. Those gaps hurt batters most: rhythm fades, match sharpness dulls and every failure feels terminal. For them, every substantial IPL innings will be read as evidence — or the lack of it — that Rohit and Kohli are still moving well, reacting sharply and carrying the intensity top-level ODI cricket demands. And unlike the IPL, ODIs offer no impact substitute, the ultimate safety valve for sluggish movers. It remains a seven-hour test of endurance. Lazy analysis has caused us to hyphenate Rohit and Kohli’s careers. Acronyms like the nauseating “Ro-Ko” have only reinforced that. Yet, the stakes are higher for Rohit. His ODI legacy is secure but age and role now sit at the heart of the debate, especially with younger opening options available alongside Gill that offer greater athletic value in the field. Fan armies have dressed up Rohit’s loose dismissals as intent. His rollicking 20s and 30s were hailed as selflessness. But poor habits become more stubborn with age. They bled into his Test game too, accelerating both technical decline and his eventual exit from the format. This IPL, selectors and coach Gautam Gambhir will watch him closely. Can Rohit start with intent, pull quality pace without losing shape, run hard, field efficiently and maintain acceptable fitness through a long campaign? He has crossed 500 runs in an IPL season only once, in 2013. Another middling season and quiet murmurs could metamorphose into harsh verdicts. His last three ODI scores, remember, were 3, 11 and 24. Kohli’s case is different. He has been the defining white-ball batter of his generation and one of Indian sport’s great athletic specimens. What he is chasing now is not excellence but sustained relevance. Against South Africa and New Zealand, he showed greater willingness to attack early, looking for boundaries inside his first 10 balls. It suggested adaptation. Kohli had already mastered low-risk accumulation in ODIs; now he has garnished it with consistent urgency. That matters in the IPL, where strike rate and impact shape or destroy narratives. Kohli will want to show he can still dominate key bowlers and keep pace with the modern game’s demands. If he can combine control with carnage, his case remains strong. He has 11 IPL seasons of 400-plus runs and while many came at strike rates in the mid-120s, in each of his last three seasons it has risen to above 140. Last year, while batting first, his strike rate was 147.8, higher than his strike rate while chasing, 142.18. Since 2025, his ODI strike rate is 98.45, above his career mark of 93.41. Kohli also knows that when senior players try to stretch themselves into another World Cup cycle, selectors judge more than numbers. They look for hunger, energy and intent. The IPL, played under relentless scrutiny and offering instant, unforgiving public judgment, is the perfect stage for such examinations. The league has increasingly become a selection filter across formats in India — sometimes, disturbingly, even for Tests. For Rohit and Kohli, this season is more than a tournament. It is their ticket to relevance.

Sanju Samson (Pic credit: CSK)

Just like MS Dhoni did all those years ago, the Kerala cricketer is making a grand entrance to the franchise following his heroics in the T20 World Cup. His first task, however, will be to revive Chennai’s fortunes by being consistent with the bat.It was the game against Zimbabwe in the recently-concluded T20 World Cup. Sanju Samson, who had just made a comeback in India’s playing XI at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, was asked after the match about his “new home”. The reference, of course, was to the wicketkeeperbatter’s transfer to Chennai Super Kings from Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL).Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!“I’m really excited about it, but right now I have other priorities. When the time comes, I’ll be looking forward to it,” Sanju said.Following that game, Samson went on to play three match-winning knocks for India in the next three games, winning the player of the tournament award as India won the World Cup. Now, he comes to Chennai as the toast of the nation as another IPL season beckons.

It is similar to the way MS Dhoni made a grand arrival in Chennai as CSK captain all those years ago after leading India to the 2007 T20 World Cup title. That time too, the franchise bosses hadn’t missed a chance to cash in on Dhoni’s growing popularity. It was a move that shaped the history of CSK and IPL.Now, as the sun is about to set on Dhoni’s long career, there’s a new hero emerging. No, Sanju isn’t the new CSK skipper. He doesn’t even have the responsibility of establishing the franchise as a brand. But there’s another challenge for the Rajinikath fan from Kerala — to reestablish the supremacy of CSK as a powerhouse in the IPL.The last couple of years have been wretched for the five-time champions. They’ve been unable to make the lastfour stage of the tournament. Though the fans still troop to Chepauk on match day just to catch a glimpse of Dhoni hitting a couple of sixes or showing his skill with the gloves, there’s been a growing sense of frustration about the team’s performance.

The move to draft Sanju in was, in fact, a little bit of a desperate move to get CSK’s house in order. They had flirted with a couple of other established Indian names as Dhoni’s longterm wicketkeeper batter replacement in the past years, but those moves hadn’t exactly materialised. Once it was clear after last season that Sanju wanted to leave RR, CSK didn’t want to miss the chance.The Super Kings have been missing the firepower at the top of the order and Samson does solve a few riddles. As per indications, Sanju will open the batting with Ayush Mhatre while skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad will come in at No. 3. The right-hander, whose best year in IPL for Rajasthan Royals was in 2024 when he scored 531 runs at a strike-rate of 153.46, will look to recreate similar magic in his first year for his new franchise.What may just work for Sanju in Chennai is the fact that he will be coming to this IPL as a man free of any burden. For years, he has been trying to prove himself as an international cricketer. In the past, it has always been at the back of his mind that a poor IPL might curtail his India dreams.After the recent heroics in the T20 World Cup, though, those fears would have eased. Sanju has nothing left to prove to cement his India place. Given the nature of his free-flowing batting style, that easing of pressure can give him the freedom to express himself and give CSK those rollicking starts day in and day out.While that’s one part of the deal, the 31-year-old has to take care of the wicketkeeping responsibilities as well. It’s almost an open secret that this will be Dhoni’s last year. CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan has indicated that the legend may not be playing all the games.In all probability, Sanju will keep wickets in most of the games, unless of course the team needs Dhoni’s onfield tactical acumen to wriggle out of a tough corner. Sanju, on his part, has already spoken to Dhoni about how to go about the job.“I’ve spoken to Mahi bhai over the phone and interacted with him. Playing with him as part of a team will be great. I see it as an opportunity to learn from him,” Samson told reporters after the World Cup triumph. “Whenever he calls or we meet, there is always something positive to take away. But being with him in a team for two months and seeing first-hand how he approaches cricket and prepares for games will be a huge benefit for me,” Sanju added.Taking over from Dhoni the icon, especially in Chennai, entails going beyond the cricket field. The 42-yearold, over the last two decades, has become a cultural beacon, ‘Thala’ to his legions of fans . To Sanju’s advantage, he already has a strong fan base in the city, courtesy a big Malayali population in Chennai.Many of them used to be Rajasthan Royals fans but have started shifting allegiance now. The fact that Sanju speaks the local language and has been coming to the city since he was kid will help him grow an immediate connection with the Tamil population. But then, to win them over and create an aura that comes close to Dhoni’s will need one crucial component — performance.After the World Cup, there’s a growing belief in Chennai that the mild-mannered cricketer will deliver as expected. The ball is well and truly in Sanju’s court.