One thing is certain for the Mumbai Indians (MI) following their loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Sunday: the five-time champions will not win the IPL this year, marking their sixth consecutive season of failure. In IPL 2026, MI has three games left to avoid finishing in last place, as they have done twice since 2021.

Despite the loss, head coach Mahela Jayawardene was polite and commended Krunal Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar for their poise and ability under duress. Jayawardene was clearly frustrated, even though he didn't avoid the tough questions about his team's failings. However, he believed that the disappointment was still too recent to make a definitive judgement."Yeah, I mean, the season, it's disappointing," he remarked following their eighth defeat in 11 games, a two-wicket loss to RCB. "We've had our chances. We were inadequate. Our lack of consistency with the bat and ball was evident in the margins.We were most likely two or three victories away from being among the contenders for that playoff spot. However, we failed to secure those victories, and today was yet another glaring illustration of our shortcomings. I therefore find it challenging to summarise the season at this time. I need to think about it as well and then determine precisely [what went wrong]. However, we didn't perform well enough this season in terms of both skill and execution.

MI had opportunities. However, they took a chance by giving rookie all-rounder Raj Angad Bawa, who was bowling for the first time in his four-year IPL career, the ball for the final over. Despite dismissing Romario Shepherd off the third ball to raise hopes of a victory, he started with a wide and a no-ball. Bhuvneshwar then scythed him for six to tip the scales in favour of RCB.Regarding their choice to bowl Bawa, Jayawardene clarified that "all of our bowlers were finished at that time, we didn't have anyone left, any experienced bowler."AM Ghazanfar and Will Jacks were two of our spinners; Raghu Sharma had not bowled.

"Allah ran as well. I believe [Bawa] was supported by Suryakumar [Yadav]. Raj can bowl fairly well. We are aware of his practice skills, namely his ability to execute wide pitches and yorkers. We therefore believed that he should be able to in this circumstance. He delivered those lines, got the wicket, and bowled brilliantly to Shepherd, in my opinion.
"Yes, we had to have a look at it because he was under pressure and had a few wides and no-balls. However, I believe I was happy with how we battled. Indeed, we should have performed a little better in the end because it was a game of margins.

One explanation offered for MI's defeat was the uneven surface of Raipur. Jayawardene acknowledged that their final score of 166 was insufficient, but he refused to use the surface's unpredictability as a justification.
"Well, I thought it was a good wicket," he remarked, grinning wryly. The bowlers would have loved it, after all. The bowlers have been suffering the most, and the wickets have been very respectable. I thought it was a nice sporting wicket. The surface had some for the fast bowlers, and it was a nice challenge for the players on both sides. The spinners made some purchases. Additionally, if hitters performed well, they may score runs.MI only scored 30 runs in the final overs, but Jayawardene praised RCB's bowlers for their excellent performance. They were particularly damaged when Naman Dhir, the highest scorer with 47, was removed in the 13th over, just as his combination with Tilak Varma appeared to set them up for a higher total than they actually achieved.We were aware that a score of 170–180 was good. And we were moving in that direction. And in that 14–15 mark, we lost a few more wickets," Jayawardene remarked. "Naman is leaving. Just prior to the timeout, Jacks also left. Thus, those were a few unintentional errors made at that time. If not for those wickets, that would have provided us an additional 15–20 runs.

Jayawardene would have cherished having their "core guys consistently out there" in retrospect. They were unable to accomplish that. At the beginning of the tournament, Rohit Sharma had a hamstring injury that kept him out of six games, and Hardik Pandya's back spasms near the conclusion left them struggling to maintain team balance. Mitchell Santner was also sidelined due to a shoulder issue.

He responded, "I don't think it was chopping and changing," when questioned about the makeup of the team. We had a lot of people getting hurt, a lot of niggles, and certain players being unavailable, which you guys probably weren't aware of. Therefore, the majority of those adjustments were imposed.We wouldn't have made many tactical adjustments throughout the season. Our primary core guys being out there all the time would have been fantastic. However, there are no justifications. We had a good squad, I believe.

Simply put, as I mentioned, we had to admit that, on the whole, we weren't good enough. However, the season is still ongoing, and we continue to play some excellent cricket. We simply must keep doing that.
Jayawardene was adamant when asked if it was getting harder to continue supporting failing older players, particularly Suryakumar and Hardik, who have both had difficult IPL seasons since winning the T20 World Cup. For the record, Hardik has scored 146 runs in eight innings and taken four wickets at over 12 per over, while Suryakumar, who was out for a first-ball duck on Sunday, has only managed 195 runs in 11 innings.

"No, I don't think it is," Jayawardene replied. "They're also making an effort to perform at their highest level. I would have talked to them if I had known it had anything to do with that. However, their dedication and work are astounding. I was therefore quite determined. It all comes down to Ro's injury, his recovery, and his hitting style. The core group is really beneficial to us. You can't simply keep evolving.We went with our confidence and trust in them. After then, it is what it is. It's hard for me to go beyond that, as I mentioned. They won the World Cup and had an amazing experience.