It’s almost a custom for Mumbai Indians (MI) to start slow and then pick up the pace. And that’s exactly what the Hardik Pandya-led team did in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. After winning just 1 of their first 5 matches, Mumbai won 7 of the next 9 and qualified for the playoffs. Unfortunately, they bowed out in Qualifier 2 and couldn’t go on to lift their 6th IPL trophy.
All in all, it was a good season. It was just the second time in the last 5 years that Mumbai reached the playoffs. But before the IPL 2026, they can get even stronger. Some of it will be dependent on how players perform. This year, for instance, Tilak Varma and Hardik Pandya weren’t exactly at their best.
They will address the weak points and make some good buys at the IPL 2026 auction. Of course, for that, they’ll have to release some players. For starters, they have to let go of 2 foreign players since they have 10 in their squad, including the injury replacements.
Why MI won’t release Arjun Tendulkar
But there are 4 players who they might release, and Arjun Tendulkar won’t be one of them. You ask why? Well, because the all-rounder has been with them since 2021 and, despite little to no performance, they seem to pick him each time. After 5 seasons, Arjun has played just 5 matches and has just 3 wickets to his name.
It seems like a sentimental decision, almost like they are paying respect to Arjun’s father, Sachin Tendulkar, who was with Mumbai from 2008 until his retirement in 2013. This isn’t uncommon. Emotions often dictate decisions by franchises. If not, Chennai Super Kings wouldn’t have perhaps bought Ravichandran Ashwin for Rs 9.75 crore.
Players MI might release before IPL 2026 auction
| Player | Role | Price | Stats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Robin Minz | Wicketkeeper batter | Rs 65 lakh | 6 runs (2 innings, 3 average, 40 strike rate) |
| Karn Sharma | Leg spinner | Rs 65 lakh | 7 wickets (5 innings, 18.28 average, 8.53 economy) |
| Mujeeb Ur Rahman | Mystery spinner | Rs 2 crore | 1 wicket (1 inning, 28 average, 14 economy) |
| Reece Topley | Fast bowler | Rs 75 lakh | 0 wickets (1 inning, 13.33 economy) |
Coming back to the topic, Mumbai will release Reece Topley and Mujeeb Ur Rahman. Of the 10 overseas players MI has, they might be the weakest. Mujeeb played just one match and didn’t even bowl his quota. As went for Topley, but his performance came in Qualifier 2, which makes things worse.
Robin Minz was ranked dead last in ESPNcricinfo’s MVP (most valued player) rating. A look at his stats will tell why. The wicketkeeper batter was expected to be a great prospect but looked out of sorts in IPL 2025. As for Karn Sharma, he did incredibly well when granted the opportunity. But being 37 doesn’t help. He’ll be 38 before the IPL 2026 auction and isn’t exactly a fielder like Faf du Plessis either. Retaining him with Mitchell Santner and Allah Ghazanfar doesn’t make much sense.
Mumbai Indians squad before IPL 2026
Batters: Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton (wk)
, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Robin Minz (wk), Naman Dhir, Shrijith Krishnan (wk), Bevon Jacobs
All-rounders: Hardik Pandya (c), Mitchell Santner, Will Jacks, Arjun Tendulkar, Corbin Bosch, Raj Angad Bawa
Bowlers: Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Deepak Chahar, Karn Sharma, Ashwani Kumar, Lizaad Williams, Reece Topley, Satanyarayana Raju, Vignesh Puthur, Raghu Sharma, Allah Ghazanfar, Mujeeb Ur Rahman
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