On Tuesday, December 16, the IPL 2026 mini-auction took place in the UAE. All ten franchises completed their squad of 25 players. 369 players went up for sale, but only 77 stars saw a bidding war.
Mumbai Indians entered the auction with least auction purse of just 2.75 crores. The five-time winners had retained 20 players and roped in five more talents at the auction to complete their squad.
Mumbai Indians IPL 2026 Retained players
Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ryan Rickleton, Robin Minz, Raj Bawa, Raghu Sharma, Mitchell Santner, Corbin Bosch, Naman Dhir, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Allah Ghafanzar, Ashwani Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Will Jacks, Sherfane Rutherford (traded from Gujarat Titans), Mayank Markande (traded from Kolkata Knight Riders), Shardul Thakur (traded from Lucknow Super Giants).
Mumbai Indians IPL 2026 auction buys
Quinton de Kock, Mayank Rawat, Atharva Ankolekar, Mohammad Izhar, Danish Malewar
Mumbai Indians IPL 2026 full squad
Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ryan Rickleton, Robin Minz, Raj Bawa, Raghu Sharma, Mitchell Santner, Corbin Bosch, Naman Dhir, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Allah Ghafanzar, Ashwani Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Will Jacks, Sherfane Rutherford, Mayank Markande, Shardul Thakur, Quinton de Kock, Danish Malewar, Mohammad Izhar, Atharva Ankolekar, Mayank Rawat
Now let's look at Mumbai Indians' probable XI for IPL 2026.
Top Order: Rohit Sharma, Quinton de Kock, Suryakumar Yadav
Why Quinton de Kock over Rickelton?
During the auction, Mumbai Indians bought just a solitary capped star, which was Quinton de Kock. The southpaw recently reversed his retirement from white-ball cricket and is now among the runs. Thus, the five-time winners are still likely to prefer de Kock over Rickelton for IPL 2026 because of his past heroics for the franchise.
Rickelton had a great IPL 2025, where he amassed 388 runs in 14 innings, scoring at a rate of 150.97, averaging 29.85. On the other hand, de Kock, playing for KKR had only 152 runs in 8 innings, averaging just 21.71.
However, Rickelton in 2025 in T20Is is struggling for runs and is now behind de Kock in the pecking order.
De Kock and Rickelton's T20i stats in 2025
Criteria
Quinton de Kock
Ryan Ricketlon
Innings
7
5
Runs
122
118
Average
17.42
23.60
Strike-rate
160.52
132.58
100/50
0/1
0/1
Rickelton's inconsistency in recent T20Is has made it difficult to make him a starter for Mumbai Indians, but if De Kock fails to perform in the opening half of the tournament, then Rickelton will return to pair up with Rohit Sharma at the top.
Further, Rohit and De Kock have stitched 1269 runs for Mumbai Indians in just 37 innings, the second-most successful opening pair in the history of five-times IPL winners.
Middle Order: Tilak Varma, Sherfane Rutherford, Hardik Pandya, Naman Dhir
Hardik Pandya suited for No.6 to fit Rutherford at No.5
For IPL 2025, Mumbai Indians kept rotating their batters, but it seems that won't be the case for the upcoming season. For the next edition, Pandya will return to bat at No. 6 to fit in newly traded star Sherfane Rutherford at no. 5.
Last season, Pandya was used more as a floater, but will bat at No.6 as he has the best numbers in IPL at that position. Meanwhile, Rutherford had a great season with Gujarat Titans in IPL 2025, where he amassed 291 runs in 11 innings, averaging 32.33.
Hardik Pandya's numbers in IPL at No.6
Criteria
Hardik Pandya
Innings
37
Runs
797
Average
31.88
Strike-rate
176.33
100/50
0/4
Sherfane Rutherford's numbers in IPL 2025
Criteria
Sherfane Rutherford
Innings
11
Runs
291
Average
32.33
Strike-rate
157.30
100/50
0/0
Naman Dhir will continue to bat at No.7 and provide the finishing touch for Mumbai Indians. In IPL 2025, Naman Dhir amassed 252 runs in 12 innings, batting at a strike-rate of 182.61 and also an average of 31.50.
Mumbai Indians have not made much change to their bowling attack as they have Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, and Hardik Pandya to bowl in the powerplay. Notably, Trent Boult has 73 wickets in the powerplay, the second-most in the history of the league.
Further, Jasprit Bumrah and Pandya have bowled in the powerplay it in the past and will continue to do so. The skipper himself will bowl an over or two in the first six overs.
Why Shardul Thakur ahead of Deepak Chahar?
Deepak Chahar is one of the most successful bowlers in the powerplay in the history of league with 68 wickets. However, Mumbai Indians have already covered that gap. What they are looking for is a bowler who can strike in the middle-overs and Shardul Thakur seems to be the perfect guy for that.
Let's compare Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar's performance from 7-20 overs.
Criteria
Shardul Thakur
Deepak Chahar
Innings
99
61
Wickets
81
22
Average
26.7
27.00
Strike-rate
16.9
18.7
Further, Mayank Markande and Mitchell Santner will look after the spin department.
MI's strongest playing combination for IPL 2026 (including impact player)
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Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock - (Source: AFP).jpg)
