They haven’t won a trophy in five years.
The IPL 2026 auction retention window is closing in, and one of the biggest questions is what the MI auction strategy will be. Mumbai Indians need to strengthen their squad if they are to end their trophy drought.
The five-time former champions have not won a title since 2020 and have had some really poor seasons. In the previous edition, they reached Qualifier 2 but were knocked out after losing to the Punjab Kings. The Mumbai Indians squad had a few weaknesses, and it came back to bite them.
As we look forward to the mini auction, the MI released players 2026 will be a matter of curiosity. So what will be their strategy heading into the auction?
Mumbai Indians are a franchise that has historically relied on familiar faces and believed in maintaining stability in the team. It is why they did everything in their power to retain their core of superstars.
They managed to keep Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma, and Tilak Varma ahead of the 2025 mega auction. Later, they brought in Trent Boult for INR 12.50 crore and Deepak Chahar for INR 9.25 crore.
The franchise has spent 96.75 crore on just seven players. Rohit is at the end of his career with not much left in the tank. Hardik has fitness issues and hasn’t performed well in the last two editions since returning to the team. Chahar had a disappointing campaign as he failed to make an impact with the new ball and was expensive.
The ideal MI auction strategy would be to release a couple of these big-money signings and go into the IPL 2026 auction with a decent amount up their sleeves. But given their history of sticking with a set of players, this is unlikely to happen.
As we know, Mumbai Indians like stability, and there is a good possibility they might not release any big signings. However, that would put them in quite a pickle as they desperately need to plug a few holes.
The Mumbai Indians auction strategy could revolve around releasing Deepak Chahar. The right-arm pacer was brought in to deliver in the powerplay and strike early blows with the new ball. But he could not do justice to the price tag, picking up only eight wickets in the powerplay in 14 innings while conceding at 8.67. In other phases, he leaked 90 runs in eight overs. Going by these returns, it is hard to see Chahar in the MI released players 2026 list.
Other players who could be in the MI released players 2026 list:
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After letting go of Deepak Chahar, Will Jacks, Reece Topley, Lizaad Williams, and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Mumbai Indians will need reinforcements.
If Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) release Liam Livingstone, Mumbai Indians could target him. With Hardik Pandya’s weakness against hard lengths, they need a lower-order batter who can take on the raw pace. Naman Dhir did an outstanding job in the previous season, but they would like another solid striker. Livingstone is one of the best in this regard and would be a great fit in the team.
Ben Dwarshuis could also be one of the Mumbai Indians auction targets. The Australian pacer has been on a good run in the shorter format. He can swing the ball upfront, has a decent ability to bowl in the end overs, and can smash the ball down the order. MI like batting depth, and with Dwarshuis, they can have that.
Mumbai Indians have struggled to find a second Indian seamer to partner with Jasprit Bumrah. They tried to address it in the mega auction by spending a fortune on Chahar. But that move wasn’t quite fruitful. If they release him, MI will need an alternative. Kartik Tyagi could be one of their targets. The 24-year-old had a good campaign in the UP T20 League in August, picking up 18 wickets in 11 games at an economy of 8.03.
To conclude this, here is what MI auction strategy IPL 2026 could look like:
Looking at their current needs, Mumbai Indians are likely to focus on plugging these issues in the IPL 2026 auction.
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