Former India opener Aakash Chopra has opined that the Mumbai Indians (MI) would just relax at the IPL 2026 auction. He highlighted that the five-time champions don’t have much money left in their purse and don’t need too many players either. Ad MI have a 20-member squad, including seven overseas players, heading into the IPL 2026 auction. They have an available budget of ₹2. 75 crore and can buy at most five players, including one overseas. In a video shared on his YouTube channel, ‘Aakash Chopra,’ the cricketer-turned-commentator stated light-heartedly that the Mumbai Indians would need a good internet connection at the auction. “What all will Mumbai need? Firstly, they don’t have much money. They have only ₹2. 75 crore left with them. I feel, on the auction day, they will need a good internet connection. They will need a good playlist. You can make a good group with friends, where you can chat,” he said. (4: 30) Ad Trending Ad Chopra added that the MI think tank would sit leisurely and watch the other franchises buy their players. “After that, you can check out a few reels on Instagram. They will need only these three or four things. Good coffee, good water, good food, and keep one leg over the other and watch everyone else because Mumbai don’t need anything. Mumbai is ready,” he observed. Ad The Mumbai Indians traded in Sherfane Rutherford, Shardul Thakur and Mayank Markande and traded out Arjun Tendulkar ahead of the IPL 2026 auction. They released eight players, with Mujeeb Ur Rahman (₹2 crore) being the most expensive among them. “They needed a guy who could bat down the order” Aakash Chopra on Mumbai Indians’ acquisition of Sherfane Rutherford ahead of IPL 2026 auction In the same video, Aakash Chopra noted that the Mumbai Indians addressed their middle-order concerns by trading in Sherfane Rutherford. Ad “They don’t have a lot of money, but they don’t need to shop. This is a very happy place to be. The entire team is already ready. They needed a guy who could bat down the order and they got that by acquiring Sherfane Rutherford. If they want anyone up the order, you find Will Jacks with Ryan Rickelton there,” he said. Ad The former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) player added that Shardul Thakur’s acquisition gives MI an ideal backup for the injury-prone Deepak Chahar. “At times, it seemed like Deepak Chahar has an injury issue and if they could get another senior fast bowler, so they said Shardul Thakur has come. Palghar Express has come for ₹2 crore. So you get him as an option and he knows these conditions,” Chopra observed. Aakash Chopra highlighted that the Mumbai Indians might have let Karn Sharma go, but have acquired Mayank Markande, with Mujeeb Ur Rahman being released, considering Allah Ghazanfar’s likely availability. To conclude, the analyst noted that MI would rely on their scouting team to onboard some relatively unknown players at the auction. × Feedback Why did you not like this content? Clickbait / Misleading Factually Incorrect Hateful or Abusive Baseless Opinion Too Many Ads Other Was this article helpful? Thank You for feedback Get real-time updates on IPL 2025, live scores, IPL Prediction, match schedule, points table, Result & squad -CSK, MI, RCB, KKR, SRH, LSG, DC, GT, PBKS Edited by Kartik Iyer.
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