Royal \u2060Challengers Bengaluru delivered the final blow to its season with a two-wicket victory in Raipur, MI\u2019s eighth defeat in \u200c11 matches.<\/p>\n
MI spares no expense when putting together its teams and this year was \u200cno exception with India\u2019s Hardik Pandya serving as \u200ccaptain \u2060of a squad that also includes T20 \u2060World Cup-winning India captains Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav.<\/p>\n
However, Rohit missed six matches with a hamstring strain, Hardik sat \u200bout three with a \u200cback spasm, while spin-bowling all-rounder Mitchell Santner went down with a shoulder injury, forcing MI to frequently change its line-ups.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think it was \u200cchopping and changing,\u201d former Sri Lanka captain \u200bJayawardene said. \u201cWe had a lot of injuries, a lot of niggles, players getting injured, \u2060and some players were not available. So, those were mostly forced changes.<\/p>\n
\u201cTactically, we would have made very \u200cfew changes during the season. I would have loved to have our main core guys consistently being out there. But there\u2019s no excuse. I think we had a quality squad.\u201d<\/p>\n
It has been a lean season for all-rounder Hardik and batter Suryakumar \u200cbut Jayawardene backed the decision to keep playing them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe core \u200bgroup is quite valuable for us. You can\u2019t just keep changing,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe went with \u2060the trust, the confidence that we had with them. \u2060And then it is what it is . . . They had a really good World Cup, \u200cwinning it and all that. So I think it\u2019s just that as a unit, we haven\u2019t \u200bbeen good enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Published on May 11, 2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n