IPL 2026 Mumbai Indians (MI) Retained Players Best Playing 11

With Shardul Thakur traded, explore the latest best retained players playing 11 for the Mumbai Indians (MI) ahead of the IPL 2026 Mini Auction. 

The Mumbai Indians team has begun the 2026 season with a bang, and has signed two players already before the IPL 2026 Mini Auction. In the form of all-cash deals, the Mumbai Indians team has acquired the services of two solid players, Shardul Thakur from LSG and Sherfane Rutherford from the Gujarat Titans. Both are solid players, and will only improve the playing 11 of the Mumbai Indians, which was already strong before the Auction.

After having a full period from 2021 to 2024, the Mumbai Indians team made a solid comeback in 2025, as they not only formed a strong team under Hardik Pandya, but they also managed to perform well, while finishing in the third place, and losing the Qualifier 2 by a whisker. While such a strong team was already in place, by adding two more solid players before the Auction, the Mumbai Indians have only gotten stronger.

With the addition of two more players to the team, the Mumbai Indians should ideally retain a total of 21 players, which is already quite a strong number. So, the Mumbai Indians should mostly have a muted Auction, and may only look at emerging and young Indian players, to complete their squad of 25. But since we already have a strong squad in place, let’s look at the current best playing 11 for the Mumbai Indians (MI) based on the predicted retained players for IPL 2026.

IPL 2026 Likely Updated Retained Squad and Players List for Mumbai Indians (MI)

Batters

1. Rohit Sharma
2. Sherfane Rutherford (T)
3. Suryakumar Yadav
4. Tilak Varma

Wicket-keepers

1. Robin Minz
2. Ryan Rickelton (o)

All-rounders

1. Arjun Tendulkar
2. Corbin Bosch (o)
3. Hardik Pandya (c)
4. Mitchell Santner (o)
5. Naman Dhir
6. Raj Bawa
7. Will Jacks (o)

Bowlers

1. Allah Ghazanfar (o)
2. Ashwani Kumar
3. Deepak Chahar
4. Jasprit Bumrah
5. Karn Sharma
6. Shardul Thakur (T)
7. Trent Boult (o)
8. Vignesh Puthur

If we start with the openers, Mumbai have a fantastic opening combination with both aggressive openers, Ryan Rickelton and Rohit Sharma at the top. Both play an aggressive brand of cricket, and more than scoring big runs, these two openers focus on giving an aggressive start to the team. Importantly, Ryan Rickelton has made a name for himself in the debut season, and that is already a big positive for the team.

Coming to the middle-order, Mumbai Indians shall once again see a flexible lineup with Will Jacks, Suryakumar Yadav, and Tilak Varma coming in to bat depending on the situation. While having a flexible batting order is good, asking Tilak to play at 5 hasn’t been fruitful for the team. Tilak shouldn’t be playing as a finisher, and that means he should either bat at 3 or 4. Jacks, meanwhile, can still play at the number 5 position.

Mumbai Indians Trade Shardul Thakur and Sherfane Rutherford

Now, moving on to the finishers, the Mumbai Indians once again look pretty strong as they have Hardik Pandya and Naman Dhir as solid batters at 6 and 7, respectively. Add to it the batting depth of newly added Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, and even Mitchell Santner can hit a few. So, this not only gives them solid batting depth, but also great hitting abilities from all 5 players. Overall, the Mumbai Indians have a solid batting lineup that can take heads-on any bowling attack.

Having seen a solid batting lineup, we now talk about the bowling attack, and in terms of bowling attack, the Mumbai Indians once again look quite competent. Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Shardul Thakur, and Deepak Chahar shall lead the pace attack for the Mumbai Indians. With a solid pace attack, one of Allah Ghazanfar or Mitchell Santner shall lead the spin attack, with support from Hardik Pandya, Naman Dhir, and Will Jacks. So, overall, MI have 7 bowlers in the side, and that makes this bowling attack quite powerful.

IPL 2026 Mumbai Indians (MI) Best Retained Players Playing 11

1. Ryan Rickelton (wk) 
2. Rohit Sharma
3. Tilak Varma
4. Suryakumar Yadav
5. Will Jacks 
6. Hardik Pandya (c)
7. Naman Dhir
8. Shardul Thakur
9. Deepak Chahar
10. Allah Ghazanfar 
11. Jasprit Bumrah

Impact Player: Trent Boult / Sherfane Rutherford

So, that’s about the best retained players playing 11 for the Mumbai Indians ahead of the IPL 2026 Mini Auction. As we can see, even before the Auction, the Mumbai Indians have a solid playing 11 in place. Given the strength of the team, they might not look for better options in the Auction. So one can assume, this is their near-best playing 11 for IPL 2026.

© IPLadda