IPL 2026 Auction Preview: Mumbai Indians Nearly Complete Squad

In the last week of the year, December 12, Kaynes Technology's stock recorded a second successive session of gains thanks to the bulk share purchase that improved market sentiment. Several brokerage firms also changed their outlook to positive for the stock that had faced pressure for weeks.

In the large transaction, Smallcap World Fund Inc purchased 4,46,921 shares of Kaynes Technology at the NSE at an average price of Rs 4,206.38 per share. The total value of the deal was approximately Rs 188 crore.

On Friday, the stock of the company was Rs 4,267, which was up 5.51%, thus, raising the market capitalization of Kaynes Technology to Rs 28,603 crore. The stock, however, has been a loser over the year as the rally uplifted the stock by 44%. In the last month, the stock lost 33% of its value.

The Mumbai Indians (MI), the five-time IPL champions who are tied with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for the most titles, are going to the IPL 2026 auction taking place on December 16 with a mostly settled squad. The last season for MI ended in Qualifier 2 due to a masterly batting display of Punjab Kings’ Shreyas Iyer.

Mumbai's season of 2025 was a story of coming back. A slow beginning resulted in four losses out of the first five matches, with the absence of Jasprit Bumrah being one of the reasons. After the fast bowler’s return, MI won six matches in a row and thus, secured a playoff position. The franchise's win percentage of 56.2 was a great improvement from the previous year's 28.6%, when they finished last.

Before the auction, MI had already made squad changes that included the release of some key players. The major transfers in this regard were Arjun Tendulkar (traded to LSG), Bevon Jacobs, Karn Sharma, Lizaad Williams, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Reece Topley, Krishnan Shrijith, Satyanarayana Raju, and Vignesh Puthur. The new additions consist of Shardul Thakur (from LSG), Sherfane Rutherford (from GT), and Mayank Markande (from KKR), thus, enhancing both bowling and spinning options.

The roster of MI consists of world's best players in the batting and bowling department. Jasprit Bumrah is still the number one T20 bowler in the world with 183 wickets and an economy rate of 7.24. In a year 2025, Bumrah along with Trent Boult shared the 40 wickets all together, with run rates restricted to 6.68 and 8.97 respectively. Youngseeming stars like Ashwani Kumar also supported the team with their 11-wicket haul in 7 matches. Deepak Chahar, the pace bowler, added more power to the speed battery.

The batting order of MI is led by the most consistent man Suryakumar Yadav who scored 717 runs at a strike rate of 167.92 in 2025. The opening pair is formed by Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickelton who together scored 418 and 388 runs respectively. Captain Hardik Pandya was the one to bring MI's finishing attack to the fore and he scored 182 runs in the last overs at a strike rate of 167, which is a notable comeback from his poor 2024 numbers. Naman Dhir also helped a lot with his power-hitting at the end of the innings.

The team has two spinners in the form of Mitchell Santner and Mayank Markande. Santner was the second-best bowler in the last season with 10 scalps at 7.92 in 13 matches while Markande, coming back to MI from KKR, reinforces the middle overs. Moreover, MI has also retained Allah Ghazanfar, the Afghan off-spinner who was injured in 2025.

In spite of the ferocious squad of MI, there are still some defects in the team. Tilak Varma's strike rate of 138.31 in 2025 was the slowest of his career, which was (164.1 in 2023, 149.6 in 2024) in the previous seasons. Will Jacks' strike rate of 135.47 is also considered below par while Sherfane Rutherford who had a strike rate of 157.29 has the last season's strength and could provide the depth of batting.

The auction cost of MI is Rs 2.75 crore left with five openings including one foreign position. The scouts could go for an Indian middle-order batter or even a spinner from the local market. Sarfaraz Khan can be a possible pick but MI always brings in new talents.