CHENNAI: When the Indian team won the T20 World Cup in Ahmedabad in March, Mahela Jayawardene may have allowed himself a smile or two. Four of India's first XI — Tilak Varma, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav — had displayed their form during multiple phases of the tournament. After a short break, when all four were fit enough for the opener, it further enhanced the franchise's already strong tag as favourites.
Yet, after 45 days and change, one of the league's most storied sides is staring into the middle distance. Another year lost. Another season where there was a yawning gap between expectations and reality. They have, within their ranks, a former Indian all-format captain, India's current T20 captain, their current captain has already won an IPL with another franchise, and a captain who has led the Test side. So, no dearth of leadership but it just hasn't worked out.
Worse still, the side has been left with a potentially dicey position because some of their biggest non-performers this season have been the senior Indian players, including the current captain. In season's past, Yadav has been a shining light for them. In 2026, he has scored 195 across 11 games at 17.2 (SR of 144.4). Hardik, currently down with an injury, has been a point of thrust for them in the middle-order. This year, he has hit 146 at 20.8 in eight games (SR of 136.4).
But it's not like the coaching staff and the leadership group can just turn around and take them out of the firing line. When Mahela Jaywardene, the coach, was asked how political it would be to have that conversation with them, he smiled. "No, I don't think it is," the Sri Lankan said after their last-ball defeat to Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Raipur on Wednesday. "They're also trying to do their best. If I knew that it was something to do with that, I would have spoken to them. But the commitment, the effort that they're putting in is unbelievable. So I was quite determined. With Ro (Rohit Sharma) getting injured and coming back and batting the way he batted, it sums up. I mean, the core group is quite valuable for us. You can't just keep changing.
"We went with the trust, the confidence that we had with them. And then it is what it is. Like I said, it's difficult for me to go beyond that. They had a really good World Cup, winning it and all that. So I think it's just that as a unit, we haven't been good enough." To be fair to Jayawardene, he didn't shy away from answering the tough questions following the defeat that officially eliminated them from the latter stages.
The one mitigating factor is the injuries. In all, they have used 24 players, including eight overseas players. When there's so much flux in the set-up in what's ostensibly a two-month tournament, there can not be enough time to build chemistry and partnerships. "I don't think it was chopping and changing," he said when a question around 'chopping and changing' was put to him. "What you guys probably didn't know is that we had a lot of injuries, a lot of niggles, players getting injured, and some players were not available.
"Tactically, we would have made very few (changes) during the season. I would have loved to have our main core guys consistently being out there. But there's no excuses. I think we had a quality squad. It's just that, like I said, we had to put our hand up and say that we were not good enough overall. But the season is still on and we're still playing some good cricket. We just need to continue to do that." One thing that will hurt them is almost all of their losses have been by huge margins.
In the very short-term, they have the chance to harm the chances of both Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals from qualifying. In the medium term, though, they will have to sit down and decide what to do with. Will they want to trade Pandya, who's bound to have offers from elsewhere? What to do of Sharma and Yadav, two batters who may well be past their prime. These questions could be existential to a side who haven't known life without some of these stars but therein lies an opportunity for a fresh start. A clean slate.