Mumbai Indians bounced back strongly in IPL 2025 after a horrible previous year. MI finished fourth and made the playoffs again finally. Hardik Pandya led the team with his calm approach throughout. Now everyone’s asking which players will stay for IPL 2026.
MI Retained Players 2026 Core Stars
- Rohit Sharma
- Hardik Pandya
- Jasprit Bumrah
- Suryakumar Yadav
- Tilak Varma
- Trent Boult
- Vignesh Puthur
- Karn Sharma
- Mitchell Santner
- Arjun Tendulkar
- Will Jacks
- Robin Minz
- Naman Dhir
- Allah Ghazanfar
- Ryan Rickelton
- Ashwani Kumar
The MI retained players 2026 list looks pretty solid right now. Rohit Sharma is staying despite all those crazy rumours floating around. Some people said the Mumbai Indians might release their legendary former captain. That’s completely false and baseless speculation honestly.
Hardik Pandya continues as captain for IPL 2026 without any doubt. Jasprit Bumrah remains MI’s pace bowling spearhead like always before. Suryakumar Yadav brings his T20 magic to the retained list. These four form the backbone of MI’s Indian core group.
The retention deadline falls on November 15 for all franchises. They want to keep their winning combination mostly intact. Their strong Indian players give them flexibility with overseas slots.
Shardul Thakur Trade Strengthens Mumbai Indians Squad in IPL 2026
R Ashwin revealed something interesting on air recently about MI’s plans. Mumbai Indians traded with the Lucknow Super Giants to get Shardul Thakur. That’s a smart move to boost their all-rounders quota significantly.
Shardul provides both pace bowling and handy lower-order hitting power. MI lacked quality all-rounders in certain match situations last season. This trade fixes that problem before IPL 2026 starts properly.
Players MI Might Release Soon
Reece Topley is probably leaving after an average stint with MI. Krishnan Shrijith didn’t get enough chances to prove his worth. These retained players’ spots might go to younger talents instead.
Mumbai Indians have always backed their core Indian group strongly. That strategy brought them five IPL titles over the years. They won’t change their philosophy now for IPL 2026 either.
The playoffs return showed MI is back on track. Their retained group will aim for title number six next season.
