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With the 2026 IPL season nearing its halfway stage, the race for the Playoffs is heating up. Mumbai Indians, led by Hardik Pandya, find themselves in deep trouble after enduring an awful season so far. The five-time winners have managed only two wins in seven matches, falling to defeat in their last five fixtures.

Following their four losses in their last five matches, Mumbai are currently positioned 9th on the points table, with only two points and a negative Net Run Rate of -0.736. The Playoffs chase is a long one, and they are significantly behind pace.

Mumbai Indians have played 7 matches so far and they as many as league games left. If they manage to win each of the seven games that they play, they will amass 18 points - a number that should prove to be sufficient for qualification in the Playoffs. Typically, any team securing 16 points would be eligible to enter the Playoffs.

Therefore, the five-time champions must win a minimum of six games out of their remaining seven to reach 16 points and secure qualification. A defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad today will not take them out of the race but the situation will then become extremely tough for Hardik Pandya's team to qualify. If that were to happen, they must win all of their remaining matches.

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Mumbai's biggest concern this season has undoubtedly been their bowling. The bowlers have not been able to contain runs and have had particularly tough periods, especially the middle overs. The batting hasn't been inspiring either though.

In their previous encounter against Chennai Super Kings, they could only score 104 runs, which reflects the kind of pressure the batting has been put under this season. Partnerships have not been building and they haven't been finishing their innings appropriately.

They face an extremely strong Sunrisers Hyderabad side in Wankhede and SRH have some brilliant players in the form of Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head toying with the bowling from the start. Ishan Kishan has shown promising signs over the past few games while the finishers like Heinrich Klaasen are still making their mark.

With SRH playing some amazing cricket, Mumbai Indians would have to make a big comeback in both the departments.