Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya seemed to have briefly unfollowed the franchise amid the team's exit from IPL 2026.
Mumbai Indians were officially knocked out of IPL 2026 following a two-wicket loss to defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Raipur on Sunday.
The five-time champions are currently reeling in ninth place with just six points from 11 matches.
For a short time after the game, Hardik's "following" list on Instagram reportedly showed just 150 accounts, with the Mumbai Indians not being among them.
Hardik Pandya "unfollows" MI
However, just a few minutes later, Hardik Pandya's following list increased by one to 151, and the Mumbai Indians account was visible once again.
This short period when Hardik was not following the Mumbai Indians led fans to speculate about a rift between Hardik and the franchise. Some of them even wondered if Hardik had accidentally unfollowed or if it was a technical glitch.
Several social media users even shared screenshots of Hardik's following list, wherein the Mumbai Indians account was absent.
The Baroda all-rounder made his IPL debut with the Mumbai Indians in 2015, and played for them till 2021, before switching to the Gujarat Titans (GT) ahead of the 2022 season.
He led the Gujarat Titans to their maiden IPL title win in their debut season in 2022, but returned to the Mumbai Indians in a blockbuster move ahead of IPL 2024.
He was made the new MI captain upon his return, replacing Rohit Sharma. This move divided the MI fanbase, with several fans booing him at the toss of a few matches of IPL 2024. Mumbai Indians endured a 10th-place finish in IPL 2024, but went on to make the playoffs in IPL 2025, where they lost to Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Qualifier 2.
In eight matches in the IPL 2026 edition, Hardik has scored just 146 runs at a strike rate of 136.44. He hasn't scored a single fifty thus far.
Hardik has been struggling with a back spasm and has hence missed three games this season. Overall, the 32-year-old has played 160 IPL matches, scoring 2895 runs and taking 82 wickets.
Mumbai Indians will next be in action on Thursday, when they will take on Punjab Kings in Dharamsala.