Nothing is working for Mumbai Indians (MI) in IPL 2026. On Wednesday night, they posted their highest-ever first-innings total, and even that didn’t work, as Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) hunted down a target of 244 with eight balls remaining. The defeat left MI in a fight for bottom place; they have the same points as Lucknow Super Giants (4) after eight games each, and MI are only ahead on net run rate.

MI captain Hardik Pandya had made the unusual decision to bat first – the team winning the toss had chosen to bowl in the 21 previous IPL games at the Wankhede Stadium. Teams typically prefer chasing because dew makes it easier to bat in the second innings, but Hardik did not think this had been the case on the day.

“I don’t think dew played much of a role, just that they [SRH] played some good shots,” he said in his post-match interview. “We bowled some bad balls, they got [off] to a flier. I think we did pull it back, but it was not enough.”

Hardik felt MI should have been able to defend their total on most days. “I think 244, I think I’ll back my bowlers to stop it, but yeah, some other day. Today we could not execute.”

The foundation for SRH’s victory romp came in the first six overs, with Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma powering them to a powerplay score of 92 for no loss. MI had their chances during this phase, with Naman Dhir putting down two, Will Jacks failing to hold on to a tough catch, and MI failing to spot an edge off Head’s bat that they could have reviewed.

“It’s been that kind of season,” Hardik said. “When you get a couple of chances, you grab them, that’s when luck and momentum changes. If you don’t, it kind of hurts you, but it’s still fine, all the boys tried really well. They gave everything, [it] did not [work] out.”

The defeat exposed the bowling issues that have plagued MI all season. None of the bowlers could plug SRH’s scoring rate, with talisman Jasprit Bumrah conceding 54 in his four overs – it was his fourth-most-expensive display in all T20s – and Impact Player Shardul Thakur going unused.

MI have tried every possible bowling combination through the season – they have used more players (22) than any other team – and Hardik was at a loss when asked what they could do to turn things around.

“I think this season we don’t have much option,” he said. “We really need to see what we can do [differently]. I won’t put my bowlers under the bus. I think as an overall unit, we have not been able to do what exactly Mumbai Indians stands for.

“We really need to see what we need to work on, and it’s fine. We have passionate owners, we have a passionate support staff, we all will figure out something.”