IPL retentions: Mumbai Indians coach Mahela Jayawardene on the three trades and how difficult it was to release a few younger players

Having returned to the playoffs in IPL 2025 and reaching Qualifier 2, Mumbai Indians – as they usually do – chose to stick with their core group and also completed three solid trades before the retention deadline for IPL 2026. For the mini auction, MI will have the least work to do, with only Rs 2.75 crore left in their purse. They released seven players from their 2025 squad: Karn Sharma, Bevon Jacobs, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Vignesh Puthur, KL Shrijith, PSN Raju, Reece Topley and Lizaad Williams along with the trade of Arjun Tendulkar. And even before the auction, have filled in some key slots by bringing in middle-order power-hitter Sherfane Rutherfod, allrounder Shardul Thakur and legspinner Mayank Markande.

Speaking about the three trades, head coach Mahela Jayawardene said that it was dow