Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya featured in an interactive session with MI fans and declared his ultimate goal for IPL 2026.
Mumbai Indians appointed Hardik Pandya as the captain of the team in 2024 after 5-times IPL winning skipper Rohit Sharma was sidelined. Pandya played for the Mumbai Indians between 2015 and 2021 and won four titles with them, between 2015 and 2020, when MI won their last title.
Hardik Pandya, as a skipper, also won a title in the debut season of his former franchise Gujarat Titans. He then led the Titans to another final in 2023 and then managed to lead the Mumbai Indians into Qualifier 2 last season before a loss against the Punjab Kings.
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The ultimate dream is to win the IPL for the sixth time-Hardik Pandya
The MI all-rounder declared that his ultimate goal is obviously to win the 6th title for the team. Mumbai have not won a title for half a decade, and the captain wishes to see it off with another title. This would be Pandya’s 6th title overall and fifth with the Mumbai Indians, if he manages to win it this season.
“The ultimate dream is to win the IPL for the sixth time,” the Mumbai Indians skipper said on Sunday.
“At the same time, it’s about building a legacy. Mumbai Indians already have an incredible legacy, but I still remember when I was a new kid – the passion, the hard work, and how the team backed me and helped me grow,” Hardik Pandya also said that the legacy he had seen in the MI den, he would love to pass it on to the future generations.
He continued, “Going forward, I want that culture to continue – where players step up, work hard and play the best kind of cricket. I want us to represent the best cricket Mumbai Indians have ever played, and the best cricket I’ve ever played. That’s the legacy I want to leave-for myself and for the franchise.”
Hardik Pandya dreams of a World Cup like atmosphere in IPL 2026
Hardik Pandya played a massive role in India’s World Cup victory in 2026. He bowled the second last over against England in the semi-final at the Wankhede Stadium and defended the total with an economical spell. He said he would love to recreate the atmosphere at the Wankhede Stadium on that day.
“The kind of atmosphere we created for the India vs England semifinal at the Wankhede was incredible. When the fans get behind you like that, it lifts the entire team – and that’s exactly what I expect from them.
“The fans are the voice of the team. They stand by you in both good and bad times, and that’s what the MI Paltan has always done. They should be very proud of that,” the captain added.
MI skipper lauds their scouting expertise
Hardik pointed out how playing good cricket and a lot of hard work is essential for the Mumbai Indians. He recalled his younger days when the MI scouts picked him out of a Ranji Trophy game and then the entire management backed him through his most challenging times.
“I was just a batter who had spent his entire youth-17, 18, 19 years doing one thing: working hard. If someone asked me to run 12 rounds, I’d run 15.
“Then, out of the blue, someone noticed me. A year later, I was playing the Ranji Trophy. During one of those games, Mumbai Indians scouts were in the stadium-not even to watch me. But that’s the beauty of it. Luckily, I did well in that game,” he added.
He praised the scouting system of the Mumbai Indians, who gave India some massive talents like Ishan Kishan, Jasprit Bumrah, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, and more.
“It speaks volumes about their scouting system. They weren’t there specifically for me, yet they identified that I had something special and could be part of their setup for a long time.
“That’s what Mumbai Indians scouting is all about-and it’s fantastic. You don’t see that very often,” Pandya observed.
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