Former Indian fast bowler Zaheer Khan, who played in the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) for the Mumbai Indians and then also served as their director of cricket following his retirement from professional
cricket, has picked his all-time Mumbai Indians IPL XI ahead of the start of the 2026 edition of the league. In his list of XI players, Zaheer included the likes of Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga, Harbhajan Singh and Sachin Tendulkar, but surprisingly there was no place for Tilak Varma.
23-year-old Tilak joined Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2022 mega auctions, and in the last four seasons he has amassed a total of 1499 runs in 54 matches for the Mumbai-based franchise. Instead of Tilak, Zaheer included Jos Buttler as No. 3 batter in MI’s all-time XI.
Buttler, who is England’s highest run-getter in T20Is, made his IPL debut with the Mumbai Indians in 2016 and scored 527 runs in 24 matches played across two seasons. After leaving MI, he joined the Rajasthan Royals in 2018 and made a big name for himself in the IPL while playing for them and also impressed with his batting performances for the Gujarat Titans in IPL 2025.
In his all-time IPL XI, Zaheer included Tendulkar and Rohit as the two openers, and they were followed by Buttler, Surya and Ambati Rayudu.
Tendulkar was a key batter for the Mumbai Indians in the first six seasons of the IPL, and he even led the Mumbai-based franchise to the IPL final in 2010, whereas Rohit is MI’s most capped player (227 matches), most successful captain (5 titles) and highest run-getter (5876 runs).
Surya, on the other hand, has amassed a total of 3703 runs in 112 IPL matches for MI, and Rayudu scored 2416 runs in 114 matches played from 2010 to 2017.
For the finisher’s role in his all-time XI, Zaheer included Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya, and Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga and Trent Boult are three fast bowlers, with Harbhajan being the lone spinner.
Zaheer Khan’s all-time Mumbai Indians XI: Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Jos Buttler, Suryakumar Yadav, Ambati Rayudu, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Harbhajan Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga, Trent Boult.
