Mumbai Indians (MI) have quickly made moves to beef up their bowling team by bringing in left arm spinner from South Africa, Keshav Maharaj, as a cover-up for the injured Mitchell Santner ahead of TATA IPL 2026. This is an important time for MI, who seek to recapture their past glories through an equally balanced team.
The New Zealand all-rounder, Mitchell Santner, will be missing the rest of IPL 2026 due to an injury in his left shoulder that he sustained while trying to make a difficult catch on MI’s home turf against Chennai Super Kings. It was an unfortunate injury that happened as MI were winning against CSK in their last home game before taking this decision. Santner has performed well in the ongoing IPL with some economical spells and cameos in the lower-order.
Keshav Maharaj is an experienced player who has more than 170 scalps to his credit in T20 cricket around the globe. This 35-year-old left-arm spinner, who is famous for his accuracy and changes of pace, had a remarkable outing recently in the T20I series between South Africa and New Zealand, taking 5 wickets with an impressive economy rate of 6.8.
The MI management has brought Keshav Maharaj on board with a contract worth 75 lakhs INR, which is really a steal deal for such an accomplished player. Considering the presence of spinners like Piyush Chawla and up-and-comer Shreyas Gopal in their ranks, Keshav will surely be a valuable addition to the bowlers’ contingent.
