Hardik Pandya launches hate campaign against Mumbai Indians fans amid IPL 2026

Hardik Pandya-led Mumbai Indians (MI) suffered another heartbreak at the Wankhede Stadium as Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) won the high-scoring IPL 2026 thriller by 6 wickets on Wednesday, April 29. After the game, Captain Hardik Pandya turned heads because of his words against the MI fans.

Mumbai Indians managed to post a massive total on the board thanks to firecrackers from Ryan Rickelton (123*), but SRH completely flipped the game and chased down the massive target of 244 runs like it was nothing, leaving the home team fans completely shocked and disappointed.

SRH players get loud cheers at MI’s home ground in IPL 2026 clash

Even though the MI team has been struggling badly in the ongoing IPL 2026, the franchise is still getting massive praise from the fans. Fans are showing up in large numbers to cheer for their team, especially in the Wankhede Stadium, despite their disastrous run of form this season.

Read Also: IPL 2026: Mumbai Indians coach admits Jasprit Bumrah is having a bad season

After another frustrating result at home, Hardik Pandya has openly admitted that the team has not given fans enough reasons to celebrate this season as they have now lost four successive matches at the Wankhede Stadium. The skipper lauded the MI fans for staying loyal and continuing to support the team in every match despite the poor results so far in the tournament.

However, there were some instances when the Mumbai Indians crowd was chanting for Sunrisers Hyderabad players, especially for Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head in the powerplay and then when Heinrich Klaasen was hammering Jasprit Bumrah at the Wankhede Stadium.

It hurts when MI fans start cheering for the opposition team: Hardik Pandya

This even caught the attention of Hardik Pandya. The captain admitted that they felt hurt when SRH got louder support than MI at their own home ground. This shows how frustrated fans have become with their dismal performances, and Hardik made it clear that they need to win back their trust.

Hardik Pandya said at the post-match presentation: “Yes, I think we have not given them much opportunity to back us. But yeah, they have been quite fantastic. They have been loyal. They have been fantastic. Yeah, sometimes it hurts when the opposition team comes and they start chanting their names. We need to entertain them more to make sure we get that love and trust from them.”

Read Also: Hardik Pandya literally drags Mumbai Indians to unwanted low at Wankhede in IPL

Muttiah Muralitharan drops a big reality check for bowlers in IPL 2026

Meanwhile, Sunrisers Hyderabad’s spin bowling coach Muttiah Muralitharan kept things very real about the struggles bowlers are facing in IPL 2026. He explained that batting has completely changed over the years, and batters have become fearless and play attacking cricket from the first over.

The Sri Lankan legend feels for the bowlers, but he suggested they accept this harsh truth and adapt accordingly. He even pointed to a moment where an uncapped batter, Salil Arora, smashed a no-look six off Jasprit Bumrah, saying the modern batters don’t fear at all.

Muralitharan stressed that bowlers will now just keep working hard, stay accurate, and be mentally strong as the game has become heavily in favor of batters.

The SRH coach said at the post-match press conference, "It's very difficult for a bowler because these days every team has an opening pair that doesn’t care about in or out; they just go after the bowling. There is not much to say. They have to practice a lot and be as accurate as possible. On your day, you might do well, even if you do well sometimes, you are on the receiving end because of the wicket and the conditions.”