MI's 4th Straight Loss: Jayawardene Says Blame Lies on Everyone, Not Individuals

While MI opened their IPL 2026 campaign with a six-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders, they have faced losses against Delhi Capitals (DC), Rajasthan Royals (RR), Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and now PBKS.

Speaking during the post-match press conference, Jayawardene said that the team's poor performance is a collective responsibility rather than an individual one. He stressed that the coaching staff and management, including himself, must take accountability and work on improving the team after their loss to the Punjab Kings.

"I think it's on every one of us when we are not doing well. It's not an individual. It's pretty much on me, everyone who is involved in the management and all that to see how can we be better," he said.

Jayawardene said that while he knows MI are playing decent cricket, they are being outperformed by more clinical and confident opposition teams. He added that the team needs to improve in key phases of the game and take collective responsibility as a franchise and management group to regain rhythm and build confidence.

"I know we are playing good cricket. We are not taken out completely, but at the same time the other teams are much better, clinical; obviously the confidence is high as well when they have that kind of start so we just need to control phases that we can control. So I think it's not just on one individual. As a franchise, as a team management, we need to do things better to get into some rhythm and then get a few wins under our belt that will give us that confidence," the MI head coach said.

Giving an update on MI opening batter Rohit Sharma, who missed the PBKS match after sustaining a hamstring issue during the RCB match earlier, Jayawardene said that Rohit has started running and is being monitored on a day-to-day basis. He added that the injury is not serious, but the team will avoid rushing his return as it is still early in the season.

"He started running yesterday, [we'll take] day to day to see how he feels. He knows his body better than anybody else so it's nothing serious but at the same time we don't want to push and it's early season still," he said.

Coming to the match, Punjab Kings continued their dominant run in IPL 2026 with a convincing seven-wicket win over the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium.

With this victory, PBKS climbed to the top of the table with four wins and a no-result, overtaking defending champions RCB, while MI slipped to ninth place with just one win from five matches.

Batting first, MI posted 195/6, powered by Quinton de Kock's brilliant 112* off 60 balls and a crucial 122-run partnership with Naman Dhir, who scored a quick 50. Arshdeep Singh led PBKS' bowling effort with 3/22.

In response, PBKS chased the target in just 16.3 overs, reaching 198/3. Prabhsimran Singh starred with an unbeaten 80 off 39 balls, while skipper Shreyas Iyer contributed a fluent 66 off 35 balls. The duo added a match-defining stand after early setbacks. For MI, Allah Ghazanfar picked up 2/32, but the bowlers were largely ineffective as PBKS dominated the chase.

- ANI