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The Mumbai Indians are reportedly all set to phase out a senior batter from the franchise. After finishing 9th in IPL 2026, the team is looking to press the reset button and return to the dynasty that won 5 IPL titles in 8 seasons.
The first step in this reset seems to be appointing a successor for Captain Hardik Pandya. Pandya has led MI to bottom-two finishes in two of his three seasons as captain.
Now, reports indicate that MI is moving on from him and that he may even be traded away to another team.
Tilak Varma endorsed to take over as captain
As reported by the Times of India, Tilak Varma has been nominated to take over as MI captain from Hardik Pandya. Varma has previously captained Hyderabad, India A, and South Zone.
Tilak Varma has spent his entire IPL career at the Mumbai Indians since first joining them in 2022. Since then, he has become a mainstay of the Indian T20 team as well, a run that culminated in his playing a crucial role in India's T20 World Cup title at home earlier this year.
Over the years, Varma has been a consistent scorer for the Mumbai Indians, making at least 340 runs in each IPL season that he has played. In 2022, Varma was a 19-year-old playing his first IPL season, yet he still finished as the team's second-highest run-getter that year, as they finished last.
Since the start of 2022, only Suryakumar Yadav has made more runs for MI than Tilak Varma. Overall, Varma has made 1,858 runs in 68 matches at an average of 36 and a strike rate of 145, playing mostly in the middle order, but going up and down the order as required.
According to the TOI report, a senior Mumbai Indians player threw his weight behind Varma becoming captain next year. "During a mid-season review, a senior player suggested that India's young batter Tilak Varma, who has been with MI for a few years now, is the ideal person to be appointed captain next year," a source said.
Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah to be considered for captaincy
Varma is only 23 years old and would be one of the youngest IPL captains ever, even if he took up the job next year.
Right now, both Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah are also in the running to become captain. Yadav is India's incumbent full-time T20I skipper and won the T20 World Cup earlier this year.
He has captained the Mumbai Indians on an interim basis since 2023, and took up the job for three matches this year when Hardik Pandya was unavailable. Bumrah, too, took up the MI captaincy for one match this year when both Hardik and Suryakumar were unavailable.
Bumrah has led India in both Tests and T20Is as well.
Mumbai Indians set to phase out a senior batter
No names were taken, but TOI has also mentioned that the Mumbai Indians are preparing a new role for a senior batter.
"The management is also likely to phase out a senior batter and give him a 'different' role. Basically, MI needs a reset, and that refresh button needs to be pressed as soon as possible," the source told TOI.
Without any names mentioned, this could point towards the former captain Rohit Sharma, who has been with the team despite being sacked as captain in 2023. His performances with the bat have been going down in the last few years. In IPL 2026, he scored just 283 runs in 9 matches at an average of 35 and a strike rate of 157.
