Mumbai Indians' struggles: Big-money signings under scrutiny after poor returns in IPL 2026

Mumbai Indians' (MI) shocking Indian Premier League (MI) 2026 campaign continued on Wednesday when they were humbled by Sunrises Hyderabad (SRH). The six-wicket loss to SRH was MI's sixth in eight games and has left them languishing at the ninth spot in the 10-team table.

MI's hopes of finishing in the top four are still alive but they need a miracle to achieve this. To understand why such a star-studded side is struggling so much this season, we will have to take a look at their big-budget signings and how almost all of them have completely failed to turn up this season.

Below we take a look at the players who took a substantial amount of MI's purse and how they have performed this season.

Jasprit Bumrah (Rs 18 crore)

One of the league's best ever bowlers, Bumrah has looked really off-colour in IPL 2026. He has taken only a couple of wickets in eight matches at an average of 132. His economy of 8.8 is his worst in any IPL season since 2015 and he has never struggled for wickets as much as this year.

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Hardik Pandya (Rs 16.35 crore)

MI skipper Pandya has been far from his best with both bat and ball. In seven matches, he has just 128 runs at a below-par strike rate of 152. With ball, he has only taken four wickets and gone for over 12 runs per over. His captaincy has also left a lot to be desired and his all-round struggles are key to MI's underperformance.

Suryakumar Yadav (Rs 16.35 crore)

The India T20I captain, Suryakumar, is averaging 20 this season and his boundary hitting capabilities are also missing. He is definitely past his prime and is only in the team on his past credentials. A turnaround in his form could spark a turnaround in the batting fortunes of the team but the right-hander continues to struggle.

Rohit Sharma (Rs 16 crore)

The experienced Rohit hit a blazing 78 to start the tournament and set up one of MI's only two wins this season. He seemed to be in fine form before injuring himself and has sat on the bench in last four matches of the team. His injury is hurting MI big time as he was looking dangerous.

Trent Boult (Rs 12.5 crore)

MI spent big on Boult to bring him back into the side, hoping to recreate the highs of 2019 and 2020 where they won titles. However, the Kiwi pacer has struggled big time this year. He is having his worst ever season with just two wickets in four matches at an economy of over 11.5.

Deepak Chahar (Rs 9.25 crore)

The new ball specialist Chahar is also having his worst IPL season with just a single wicket in three matches. MI hoped Chahar would pair up with Boult to form a threatening new ball duo but both of them are having shocking campaigns which has reduced Bumrah's effectiveness as well.

Tilak Varma (Rs 8 crore)

Apart from one match-winning century, Tilak has scored only 87 runs in seven innings. He has shown how dangerous he can be when he is on song but is failing to be consistent. Being one of MI's retentions, better returns were expected from Tilak.