Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra has picked four captains who might be removed after IPL 2026. Chopra picked Hardik Pandya as the first skipper who could be sacked from his role. Pandya could not lead MI from the front, and the franchise ended in ninth position with only four wins in 14 games.
Pandya scored 206 runs in 10 matches at an average of 22.89 and a strike rate of 138.25. Furthermore, he could only pick four wickets in 10 games at a high economy rate of 11.42.
“The first is Hardik Pandya. I don’t know whether Mumbai would retain him or not, but they might not keep him as the captain because it’s been three years. You finished close to the bottom of the table in two out of the three years, and it’s not like you won the tournament when you qualified in the middle,” Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
“I think Mumbai will make a pivot. They might go towards some other captain. I don’t know who that captain would be, but I think they will look elsewhere. Hardik Pandya might no longer be the Mumbai Indians captain by the time the next season happens. His season was also very ordinary. He scored a few runs in this match, but it’s not good enough if you haven’t won matches,” he added.
The renowned commentator reckons that Lucknow Super Giants will remove Rishabh Pant from the leadership role after the franchise finished IPL 2026 as the wooden-spooners.
“I feel the second captain could be Rishabh Pant. The Lucknow Super Giants’ season hasn’t been good. In fact, this franchise hasn’t qualified for three consecutive years. Rishabh Pant was the captain for two years, and I think it’s done,” the cricketer-turned-commentator observed.
“He is very expensive. They might still not release him. I don’t know anything about trade or release, but I feel he won’t remain the captain. Captaincy might be coming in the way of him becoming the best player he can be,” he added.
Chopra picked KKR’s Ajinkya Rahane as the third captain, who could be removed by the franchise. KKR hasn’t been able to qualify for the playoffs in the last two seasons under his leadership. Rahane scored 335 runs in 14 matches at an average of 25.77 and a strike rate of 135.08 in IPL 2026.
“I feel the third is Ajinkya Rahane. KKR have invested in him for two years. It’s not like he hasn’t scored runs, although the strike rate has remained slightly questionable for sure. He doesn’t captain badly, but I think they will also make a pivot. They will also have to find a new captain. I have no idea how or who they will find, but I feel his captaincy days with KKR have ended for now,” he said.
The former Delhi cricketer reckons CSK can also make a change in their leadership as they can appoint Sanju Samson as their new skipper after Ruturaj Gaikwad failed to deliver.
“The fourth is slightly shocking. It is slightly out of the box as well. I think Chennai. Chennai is not known to make pivots. They are not a team that makes pivots and goes in different directions quickly, but Chetta is there, and Sanju has a pedigree. He has captained a lot, has been with Rajasthan, and took the team to the final,” Chopra observed.
“He is a decent captain, and he has scored runs as well this year. Whenever he has scored runs, the team has won. So maybe it’s time for you to go towards him because of the season Ruturaj Gaikwad has had with the bat. The most unlikely among them is probably Ruturaj, but I still feel they might want to go in a different direction, and that direction might be Sanju Samson,” he added.
Samson scored 477 runs in 14 matches of IPL 2026.
