IPL Auction Preview: Ahead of the curve — Hardik Pandya's Mumbai Indians enter with little to worry

The five-time champions and one of the league's most ruthless teams, the Mumbai Indians (MI) have almost all their boxes ticked on paper heading into the IPL Auction 2026 on December 16 in Abu Dhabi

Mumbai Indians, tied with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) as the most successful IPL team, were eliminated in Qualifier 2 last season (2025) by Punjab Kings (PBKS), thanks to a batting masterclass by Shreyas Iyer.


Mumbai Indians came late to the party last season, as they so often do, after losing four of their first five games partly due to not having Jasprit Bumrah at the start of the season. Once Bumrah came back, MI took off and won six games on the trot and qualified for the playoffs.

MI had a win percentage of 56.2 in the 2025 season, much better than the 28.6 they had in the previous one (2024), when they finished last in the points table.

Before the auction, MI released Arjun Tendulkar (traded to LSG), Bevon Jacobs, Karn Sharma, Lizaad Williams, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Reece Topley, Krishnan Shrijith, Satyanarayana Raju, and Vignesh Puthur.

However, they have got Shardul Thakur (traded in from LSG), Sherfane Rutherford (traded in from GT), and Mayank Markande (traded in from KKR), to add depth in an already formidable squad.

Ahead of the IPL Auction, here's a look at the strong points of MI, areas they need to work on, and what to expect from them in Abu Dhabi.

Strength to strength

If anyone just writes the names of Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Trent Boult, Mitchell Santner, Ryan Rickelton, Will Jacks, among others, and tells that they all play for the same team in T20s, then perhaps there's no need to write anything else about the strong points of that team. The names and their numbers tell the story on their own.

In Jasprit Bumrah, MI have arguably the world's best T20 bowler; he has 183 wickets at an economy of 7.24 in IPL. In the 2025 season, Bumrah (18) and Boult (22) had among them 40 wickets and conceded runs at just 6.68 and 8.97, respectively. Continuing their trend of unearthing domestic talent, MI introduced left-arm pacer Ashwani Kumar last year, he took 11 wickets in 7 matches last season, and along with Deepak Chahar, Bumrah, and Boult, he played a key role in MI's success with the ball.

With 717 runs at a strike rate of 167.92 and a ridiculous average of 65.18, Suryakumar Yadav had a dream season in 2025 and was the top scorer for MI.

In Ryan Rickelton and Rohit Sharma, MI have an opening pair that may not be the most destructive, but surely one that can demolish any bowling lineup. Rohit, 418 runs at a strike rate of 149.29, and Rickelton, 388 runs at a strike rate of 150.97, were the second and third among the top scorers for MI last season.

And in their captain Hardik Pandya, MI have the best T20 fast-bowling all-rounder. In the 2025 season, he scored 224 runs at a strike rate of 163.50 and was the third-highest wicket-taker for MI with 14 wickets. But perhaps most important for MI was his return as a finisher. Pandya scored only 58 runs in 44 balls at a below-par strike rate of 131.8 between overs 15-20 in the 2024 season. On the other hand, in 2025, the all-rounder scored 182 runs in 109 balls at a strike rate of 167.0

Naman Dhir was also a key player in providing MI with good finishes in the 2025 season. He hit 201 runs at 187.9 in the overs between 15-20 last season.

Santner and Karn Sharma's spin provided control to MI in the middle overs last season. In 13 matches, Santner took 10 wickets and gave away runs at only 7.92 runs per over. Karn played only 5 matches and was economical at 8.53 while also taking 7 wickets.

While MI released Puthur and Karn before the auction, they have traded in leg-spinner Mayank Markande from KKR. Markande earlier played for MI in the 2018,’19, and 2022 seasons. MI will also have the services of Afghan off-spinner Allah Ghazanfar. MI bought him last season, but he was replaced by Mujeeb ur Rahman after being ruled out for the whole season due to injury.

Areas to work on

Not necessarily a weakness, but MI might be slightly concerned about Tilak Varma's strike rate. Among the top 5 run getters for MI last season, Tilak had the slowest scoring rate of 138.31. He hit 343 runs off 248 balls in 13 innings. To put things in perspective, he scored at a strike rate of 164.1 and 149.6 in the 2023 and 2024 seasons, respectively.

Will Jacks also had a below-par strike rate of 135.47 last season. However, as a possible backup for him, MI traded in Sherfane Rutherford from GT, who struck at 157.29 last season.

Do MI need to go to an auction at all?

While MI have almost all its boxes ticked, there are some holes, though very small, to fill.

With only Rs 2.75 crore in their purse and 5 remaining slots, one of them overseas, MI may want to have an Indian middle-order batter as a backup option in the auction. Someone like Sarfaraz Khan might be on their list, but expect their scout team to again unearth someone from the domestic circuit whose name many may not have heard before.

What MI would also like to have are some more Indian spin-bowling options. In Raghu Sharma and Mayank Markande, MI have two Indian leg-spinners, they might go for one or two Indian finger spin options at the auction.

However, whether MI get the desired players or not, the auction is unlikely to decide their upcoming season. Hardik Pandya's side looks formidable enough to take on any team to end their title drought and win the IPL silverware for a record sixth time.


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