Hardik Pandya hinted at 'taking some tough calls' on Thursday after the Mumbai Indians suffered their fourth consecutive loss in IPL 2026, this time against the Punjab Kings at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The five-time champions won their opening game against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), but since then, they have been lacklustre in every department, with even fielding going off the wheels in the game against PBKS. MI are next scheduled to face the Gujarat Titans on Monday (April 20), and they might leave out a few players to return to winning ways soon before time runs out.
3 Players Mumbai Indians might drop for the next game vs Gujarat Titans
1. Ryan Rickelton
Ryan Rickelton's place in the team in jeopardy for now after Quinton de Kock's century on his comeback to the MI team. Rickelton smashed 81 runs in the opening game against KKR but since then has managed only 46 runs in four innings at the top of the order. He is very likely to make way either once Rohit Sharma returns or if MI decides to blood in Robin Minz or Danish Malewar at the top. The South African has struggled and failed to give a sparkling start to the team in the last few matches.
2. Deepak Chahar
Deepak Chahar may argue that he has been in and out of the side frequently already in five matches. He has played only three games so far, but has hardly induced any confidence in the team management with his bowling. He didn't complete the quota of his overs in any of the three matches and conceded 87 runs in just 6.3 overs. Chahar picked up only one wicket at an economy of 13.38, which clearly indicates that he hasn't been able to control the run-flow of the opposition.
3. Tilak Varma
Many eyebrows could be raised looking at Tilak Varma's name in this list but clearly, the southpaw is struggling at the moment. He has scored only 43 runs so far in five matches at an average of 8.6 and might need a break for a few matches. Having played a lot of cricket in the last few matches, a break will give Tilak some time to reflect on his batting issues. At the same time, some fresh legs in the middle order without the baggage of earlier losses in the season might help the five-time champions too.
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