Mumbai Indians on Saturday released their list of retained and released players ahead of the IPL 2026 season, reaffirming their commitment to continuity and a balanced, future-ready squad. The franchise has kept faith in its long-standing core of Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma โ players who have shaped MIโs dominance over the years.
Heading into the #TATAIPLAuction, already looking like a… ๐ช๐ข๐ช ๐๐ pic.twitter.com/WnV6jkW78w
โ Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) November 15, 2025
The bowling unit remains formidable, with Trent Boult and Deepak Chahar leading the attack. Overseas performers Ryan Rickelton, Will Jacks, Mitchell Santner and Corbin Bosch have also been retained following strong outings last season.
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โ Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) November 15, 2025
AM Ghazanfar, who missed IPL 2025 due to injury, returns to the roster, while the team continues nurturing young talent by retaining Naman Dhir, Ashwani Kumar, Raj Angad Bawa, Raghu Sharma and Robin Minz.
Mumbai Indians have further bolstered their squad through three trade-ins โ Shardul Thakur, Sherfane Rutherford and Mayank Markande โ all of whom bring proven IPL experience.
Eight players have been released: Karn Sharma, Bevon Jacobs, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Vignesh Puthur, KL Shrijith, PSN Raju, Reece Topley and Lizaad Williams. The team has also traded out pacer Arjun Tendulkar.
The management thanked the outgoing players for their contributions
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And they will always be a part of our #OneFamily ๐ซก pic.twitter.com/JOlpXxYnlE
โ Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) November 15, 2025
.Jayawardene on MIโs retention strategy
Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene said the franchiseโs approach this year has been guided by continuity and clarity.
On the retained core, he said: โThe retention is quite consistent with the way Mumbai usually looks at things. We have a very strong squad that has covered all areas. They rallied around Hardik really well last season, and Hardik enjoyed that atmosphere and led the team pretty well.โ
On strategy and consistency, Jayawardene added: โConsistency is key and weโve built our team around a core group of players โ Rohit, Surya, Jasprit, Hardik, Tilak. Trent was brought back in last seasonโs auction. We have international experience in players like Mitch Santner and Will Jacks. Weโre still developing young talent, and hopefully they get an opportunity to showcase their skills as well.โ
On bringing in Shardul Thakur, Sherfane Rutherford and Mayank Markande, he said: โThey bring a wealth of experience. Sherfane has been around and was with us many years ago. Shardulโs experience and his familiarity with Wankhede will matter. Mayank was brilliant for us as part of a championship-winning team. Weโve been looking at him for a while.โ
On the difficulty of letting players go, Jayawardene noted: โSometimes you have to detach emotionally from the decision-making process. Itโs tough to let go of players, especially young guys who have worked really hard. I phoned them personally to explain the reasons โ they deserve that. Once in Mumbai, always in Mumbai.โ
Retained players (20)
AM Ghazanfar, Ashwani Kumar, Corbin Bosch, Deepak Chahar, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Mayank Markande (trade-in), Mitchell Santner, Naman Dhir, Raghu Sharma, Raj Angad Bawa, Robin Minz, Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton, Shardul Thakur (trade-in), Sherfane Rutherford (trade-in), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Trent Boult, Will Jacks.
Released players (8)
Bevon Jacobs, Karn Sharma, KL Shrijith, Lizaad Williams, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, PSN Raju, Reece Topley, Vignesh Puthur.
Traded out
Arjun Tendulkar.