"If a few more teams had been there, they would have been placed even lower" - Harbhajan Singh on Mumbai Indians' dismal run in IPL 2024

Former Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Harbhajan Singh has expressed disappointment about their bottom-of-the-table finish in IPL 2024. The five-time champions won just four of their 14 league games this season.

The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) set MI a 215-run target in both sides' final game of the season in Mumbai on Friday, May 17. Hardik Pandya and company managed only 196/6 in reply to lose the game by 18 runs.

While speaking on Star Sports, Harbhajan claimed that the current Mumbai Indians side is a far cry from their dominant teams of the past.

"This is a different team which we have not seen for many years. Mumbai Indians are always known for playing good cricket. They play aggressive cricket. It's not that they have won every year but we always used to see the fight which we haven't seen this year," he elaborated.

"This is definitely not the Mumbai team that we left behind. I felt even if this team didn't play well, they would come in the top four, and if not in the top four, they would be at the fifth or sixth position at least. I had never imagined that they would be at the bottom of the table. If a few more teams had been there, they would have been placed even lower," the former India spinner added.

The Mumbai Indians have finished last in two of the last three editions of the prestigious league. They seemed to be one of the strongest teams heading into IPL 2024 but failed to deliver on the ground.

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"Keeping aside the Hardik Pandya decision, the players didn't take responsibility" - Harbhajan Singh on the Mumbai Indians failing to meet expectations

MI traded in Hardik Pandya (right) ahead of the IPL 2024 auction and appointed him their skipper. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Acknowledging that Hardik Pandya's appointment as skipper was a massive change, Harbhajan Singh noted that the Mumbai Indians players didn't play responsibly.

"I can understand that Hardik Pandya was brought there, a massive shift was seen. However, keeping aside the Hardik Pandya decision, the players didn't take responsibility. They didn't play the kind of cricket that was expected from them," he said.

The cricketer-turned-commentator added that the Hardik Pandya-led side seemed to be a divided outfit.

"Whether it was bowling, batting or fielding, this team looked scattered and it's evident from the results. An unhappy team plays cricket like this only. From the first or second game itself, it was clearly evident from the outside that this team was not happy with each other and was not mingling," Harbhajan observed.

Harbhajan added that the Mumbai Indians were relying a lot on individual brilliance. He concluded by saying that good teams are united whether they win or lose and added that he is sad as a former MI player that it wasn't the case with the franchise's current side.