The IPL 2026 season has seen its first serious moves, as Mumbai Indians announced a pair of trades to add to their stocks as they aim for a record sixth title in the tournament. In a matter of hours, MI announced the additions of Shardul Thakur from Lucknow Super Giant and Sherfane Rutherford from Gujarat Titans.
Both the moves happened somewhat out of the blue, as rumours of Shardul being swapped for Arjun Tendulkar emerged soon before the confirmation. It became a topic of conversation as R Ashwin commented on the trade while speaking on his YouTube channel. Ashwin had revealed the Shardul trade was “already done”, nearly a day before the official announcement was made.
After the announcement was made, MI made a shoutout to Ashwin. They clipped up the portion of Ashwin’s video where he had stated the trade, and captioned it “Here we go!” – the viral tagline used by football insider Fabrizio Romano when he confirms transfers.
In response, Ashwin said in a post of his own: “Here we go! Fair play… Trading is subject to rumour risk. Upload all trade related videos carefully!”
Shardul is reportedly being swapped for Arjun Tendulkar, as Sachin’s son heads over to bolster the seam bowling resources in Lucknow. However, further rumours indicate that Lucknow remain in the market for more seamers to join their ranks, as they have enquired about the availability of Mohammed Shami from SRH. They are not the only team targeting Shami, with Delhi Capitals also having been linked with the seamer.
In addition to Shardul and Rutherford, Mumbai are reportedly in the market for some extra spin bowling support, particularly Indian spinners. On their radar are the returns of Mayank Markande, currently at KKR, and Rahul Chahar at SRH. Markande made no appearances for KKR in 2025, and would be involved in a cash-only swap going the other way.
Mumbai will be gunning for a sixth IPL title, not having reached the final since 2020 and aiming to win a first title under Hardik Pandya. Shardul acts as cover for Hardik, and as Ashwin stated, particularly for the injury-prone Deepak Chahar. The IPL retention deadline is on November 15.
