The five-time champions, Mumbai Indians, have already created significant headlines through early trades and are hoping to end their trophy drought as they enter the IPL 2026.
The 2025 season saw the team
make it to Qualifier 2. Their season displayed flashes of vintage Mumbai Indians cricket. However, gaps in spin depth, middle-order stability, and death-over concerns were evident, leading to the decisions the franchise has taken ahead of the mini-auction.
One of the biggest developments so far has been MI’s early activity in the trade window. The franchise brought back leg-spinner Mayank Markande from KKR, a player who began his IPL career with Mumbai. They strengthened their all-around department by securing Shardul Thakur from Lucknow Super Giants. The return of Sherfane Rutherford from the Gujarat Titans is set to add firepower to the middle-order. On the outgoing front, MI parted ways with bowling all-rounder Arjun Tendulkar, who moved to LSG as part of an early transfer.
Naturally, a large part of the conversation heading into retention day was around MI’s Indian core, historically the backbone of their success. The futures of Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, and Tilak Varma have been the central talking points. Given their impact, these names continue to feature in their retained list.
Among overseas players, names like Trent Boult, Mitchell Santner, and Ryan Rickelton will be staying, considering their roles in the 2025 campaign and the balance they bring to the squad. At the same time, MI has let go of nine players.
Mumbai Indians (MI) IPL 2026 Retained Player List
| Player | Role |
| Hardik Pandya (C) | All-rounder |
| Rohit Sharma | Batter |
| Suryakumar Yadav | Batter |
| Tilak Varma | Batter |
| Robin Minz | Wicketkeeper-batter |
| Ryan Rickelton | Wicketkeeper-batter |
| Naman Dhir | Batter |
| Mitchell Santner | All-rounder |
| Will Jacks | All-rounder |
| Corbin Bosch | All-rounder |
| Raj Bawa | All-rounder |
| Trent Boult | Bowler |
| Jasprit Bumrah | Bowler |
| Deepak Chahar | Bowler |
| Ashwani Kumar | Bowler |
| Raghu Sharma | Bowler |
| Allah Ghazanfar | Bowler |
Mumbai Indians (MI) IPL 2026 Released Player List
| Player | Role |
| Arjun Tendulkar | All-rounder |
| Satyanarayana Raju | Bowler |
| Reece Topley | Bowler |
| KL Shrijith | Batter |
| Karn Sharma | Bowler |
| Bevon Jacobs | Batter |
| Mujeeb ur Rahman | Bowler |
| Lizaad Williams | Bowler |
| Vignesh Puthur | Bowler |
Mumbai Indians (MI) IPL 2026 Traded Player List
| Player | Traded From | Traded To | Amount (INR) |
| Arjun Tendulkar | Mumbai Indians | Lucknow Super Giants | INR 30 lakh |
| Mayank Markande | Kolkata Knight Riders | Mumbai Indians | INR 30 lakh |
| Sherfane Rutherford | Gujarat Titans | Mumbai Indians | INR 2.6 crore |
| Shardul Thakur | Lucknow Super Giants | Mumbai Indians | INR 2 crore |
Mumbai Indians (MI) IPL 2026 Remaining Purse
2.75 crore
