IPL 2026: Hardik unfollows Mumbai Indians on Instagram, fuels speculation of a transfer

Hardik Pandya with Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav (Pic: File)

Hardik Pandya sparked fresh speculation about his future with the Mumbai Indians after fans noticed he had unfollowed the franchise on Instagram. The news went viral on social media soon after MI's defeat to RCB, which eliminated the five-time champions from the tournament.

For a short time, Hardik Pandya's account showed that the Indian opener was following 150 accounts, which did not include the Mumbai Indians. However, just moments later, Hardik was back following MI on Instagram.

This short window of activity has raised further speculation about Pandya's future with the franchise after growing rumours about a fallout after the Mumbai Indian's difficult IPL 2026 campaign.

Following MI's loss to RCB, a number of social media users posted screenshots of the Mumbai Indians missing from Hardik's list of followers.

But a few minutes later, the MI account reappeared on his profile, leaving many to speculate as to whether it was an unintentional unfollow, a technical issue, or a sincere moment of frustration following the defeat.

Hardik Pandya's return to the Mumbai Indians as a captain in 2024 had a mixed reaction from the fans. The MI fans backed the former captain Rohit Sharma and were disappointed after his untimely removal from the captaincy.

Neither Hardik Pandya nor the Mumbai Indians have officially commented on the situation. Hence, the entire episode remains social media speculation rather than a confirmed fallout between the player and the franchise.

Still, given the history surrounding Hardik's leadership appointment and Mumbai's struggles over the last two seasons, the incident naturally drew widespread online attention.

MI have been eliminated from the IPL 2026

Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeated the Mumbai Indians in a thriller to reach the top of the table. RCB, guided by Krunal Pandya's brilliant 73, chased down MI's target of 167 on the last ball of the innings. Corbin Bosch starred with the ball for MI, taking four wickets, but to no avail.

With this defeat, the Mumbai Indians were eliminated from the tournament after just three wins in their 11 matches. MI join LSG at the bottom of the table, with both teams being eliminated with 3 games still to play.