Mumbai Indians (MI) are known for their all-attack batting. Right from the top to the finishers, they have one of the most feared batting lineups. However, all five of their championships came when there was a right balance between bat and ball. Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga, Trent Boult, Rahul Chahar and the Pandya brothers were all part of the famous period between 2013 to 2020, where MI won as many as five IPLs.
That is some domination. However, things haven’t been rosy since then but MI did their best to bring back some OG bowlers to their arsenal at the IPL 2025 mega auction. They had one of the most formidable teams and finished third before losing to Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Qualifier 2. Now with the IPL 2026 retention deadline set for November 15, we look at bowlers that MI need to retain and not let go for IPL 2026 auction.
MI bowlers retention list for IPL 2026
Jasprit Bumrah
The most obvious choice here. Jasprit Bumrah should be synonymous with MI, who unearthed a gem and gave India a ‘national treasure’, as Virat Kohli called him after the T20 World Cup 2024 win. Despite having Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya, Bumrah remained the highest-paid retention at Rs 18 crore. This shows his value. He is basically priceless. With 183 wickets at an incredible economy of 7.24, he is the player with the most wickets for MI in IPL history.
Mitchell Santner
Mumbai Indians failed to acquire a match-winning spinner ever since Rahul Chahar left. Several options were tried before sanity finally prevailed and MI got Mitchell Santner for his base price of Rs 2 crore. The New Zealand white-ball captain unsurprisingly did wonders as he picked up 10 wickets at an outstanding economy of 7.92 at IPL 2025. In fact, it was a magical delivery to Karun Nair that changed the entire tournament for MI.
Corbin Bosch
Corbin Bosch was signed as an injury replacement when Lizaad Williams got injured. While Bosch got to play just two games, they were enough to get MI fans excited. Being a late bloomer in international cricket, Bosch is an excellent utility player. While he can bowl quickly, Bosch’s batting abilities are helpful as well.
Trent Boult
Trent Boult became the most expensive player for MI at the IPL 2025 auction when they paid Rs 12.50 crore for the New Zealand legend. Playing only leagues around the world, Boult still remains one of the best left-arm pacers in the world. His new-ball exploits are second to none. In his comeback season, Boult picked up 22 wickets at a strike rate of 15.00. Boult continued his form in other leagues post IPL 2025 as well, taking 15 wickets in 12 MLC games and 6 wickets at the Hundred.
Deepak Chahar
Now comes Deepak Chahar, who didn’t have a great debut season for MI. Getting picked up for a high price of Rs 9.25 crore, Chahar had a mixed season. He showed glimpses of his swing-bowling prowess, particularly in the Powerplay, and even had a match-winning debut performance against his former team, the Chennai Super Kings. However, he also had expensive spells and his economy rate was above 9 runs per over. However, having him alongside Boult means Bumrah doesn’t need to bowl more than an over in the powerplay. MI should give Chahar another chance.
AM Ghazanfar & Karn Sharma
Two other spinners are Afghanistan’s Allah Ghazanfar and Karn Sharma. Both capped players are on the contrasting ends of their careers. While Ghazanfar was ruled out of IPL 2025 due to an injury, Karn played a decent role. The leg-spinner has always done well with MI, having taken 20 wickets in 14 innings at an economy of 7.48. He could be a great squad player in a league where Indian spinners are a must.
Meanwhile, Ghazanfar rose on the scene after his performances at the Emerging Asia Cup and the Under-19 Asia Cup. However, injuries have plagued him and he isn’t in great form in 2025. However, with his mystery spin, Ghazanfar could be an X-factor and can give healthy competition to Santner.
Vignesh Puthur & Ashwani Kumar
Two uncapped talents that did well for MI last season are Vignesh Puthur and Ashwani Kumar. MI unearthed a gem in Puthur, who didn’t play a professional T20 before making his debut for Mumbai Indians. However, he was so impressive that Puthur took 3 wickets on his debut that too against CSK. Left-arm wrist spinners are a rare commodity and Puthur is an excellent talent. Another left-armer albeit a pacer who did well was Ashwani Kumar.
Unlike Puthur, Ashwani made his domestic debut for Punjab and impressed at Punjab T20 league. He has a deadly yorker and a lot of variety that comes in handy in this format. In his debut game for MI, he took a match-winning 4-fer against KKR and finished the season with 11 wickets across 7 games.
Mumbai Indians (MI) bowlers available for retention
Mitchell Santner, Corbin Bosch, Trent Boult, Deepak Chahar, AM Ghazanfar, Reece Topley, Jasprit Bumrah, Lizaad Williams, Karn Sharma, Vignesh Puthur, Satyanarayana Raju, Ashwani Kumar, Mujeeb ur Rahman and Arjun Tendulkar
MI IPL 2025 squad
Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Robin Minz, Shrijith Krishnan, Bevon Jacobs, Tilak Varma, Ryan Rickelton, Hardik Pandya, Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Corbin Bosch, Trent Boult, Deepak Chahar, Will Jacks, AM Ghazanfar, Reece Topley, Jasprit Bumrah, Lizaad Williams, Karn Sharma, Vignesh Puthur, Satyanarayana Raju, Raj Angad Bawa, Ashwani Kumar, Mujeeb ur Rahman and Arjun Tendulkar.
