The Mumbai Indians, who have won the IPL championship five times, made their team stronger on Thursday by adding Shardul Thakur and Sherfane Rutherford. Thakur came from LSG to MI via the trade route, while Rutherford’s move from Gujarat Titans cost INR 2.6 Crores.
The inclusion of Thakur and Rutherford fills two key places in the starting XI of the Mumbai Indians. The Indian bowling allrounder is expected to accompany Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, and Hardik Pandya while also being very significant in scoring runs with Mitchell Santner in the lower middle order. At the same time, MI has rectified their lack of a true power-hitter by bringing Rutherford into their finishing department that already includes Hardik Pandya and Naman Dhir.
In terms of the potential impact of these two players, Thakur and Rutherford’s signing is undoubtedly a clever strategic move by the Mumbai Indians. Nevertheless, these two new faces might eliminate some of the present MI players, thus resulting in their release into the auction pool.
Players Mumbai Indians May Release
Deepak Chahar: A name probably to be excluded after Thakur’s arrival
Reasons for seeing Chahar’s release post Thakur’s trade Same role: Shardul Thakur is a bowling allrounder who has shown his worth to six different IPL franchises before his MI switch. Apart from taking vital wickets in the middle and death overs, he can also contribute with quick runs at the end of the innings. He is of the same class as Deepak Chahar, whom we think will be released once he comes in.
An option of the third seamer: Depsak Chahar is usually at his best with the new ball, on the other hand, Thakur has the capability to bowl in all three phases of the game. In IPL 2025, Chahar bowled 33 out of 41 overs in the powerplay, while Thakur delivered 18 out of 34 overs in the 7-20 overs phase. With Trent Boult, Bumrah, and Pandya providing MI with more lethal options in the powerplay, Thakur is the perfect choice for the second seam-bowling option, therefore outperforming Chahar very convincingly.
High budget: Shardul Thakur has come to MI for just 2 Crores while the five-time champions shelled out a jaw-dropping amount of INR 9.25 crores to acquire Chahar’s services in the 2025 mega auction. Thus, Thakur’s IPL trade gives MI a golden opportunity to part ways with Chahar whose one-dimensional bowling and injury susceptibility were the major reasons for their struggling in the 2025 season.
Will Jacks: No clarity of role,less performance
It is highly likely that Will Jacks will be the one to be left out from the MI retention list after the signing of Sherfane Rutherford.
After the trade of Rutherford, there are factors that may still bring about the release of Jacks.
He was a big letdown for the entire MI squad in the IPL 2025 thus his performance was a major reason for the team’s woes; Will Jacks was among the least effective MI players. The inning that the all-rounder played was for 233 runs at a disappointing average of 23.30 and at a very low strike rate of 135.47. So, now that Rutherford who has already shown good form by scoring 291 runs at an impressive average of 32.33 with a strike rate of 157.30 has come in to support their middle order MI may decide to part with Jacks and save a huge amount of INR 5.25 crores in the process.
No role clarity: While MI’s owner, Akash Ambani, appeared to be quite ecstatic with the purchase of Will Jacks at the 2025 mega auction, they found it very difficult to accommodate him in their batting order. It was a wrong move by MI to promote Jacks to number three, and it resulted in hampering the scoring rates of both Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav in the tournament which ultimately led to the downfall of the team. So, after the addition of a top finisher like Rutherford, MI might just say goodbye to Jacks and allow Tilak and Surya’s return to their preferred batting positions in IPL 2026.
Conclusion
Therefore, it is Chahar and Will Jacks who are the most probable to carry out the MI setup with Thakur and Rutherford. The release of these two players by the five-time champs will mean a whopping INR 9.9 crores being added to their wallet for the mini auction.
