Mumbai Indians rope in Shardul Thakur & Sherfane Rutherford ahead of IPL 2026 mini-auction

On Thursday, November 13, the five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians traded the bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur from the Lucknow Super Giants and the batting all-rounder Sherfane Rutherford from the Gujarat Titans ahead of the IPL 2026 mini-auction.

Thakur will join the MI franchise for a whopping price of INR 2 Crore. On the other hand, Rutherford was acquired by the Mumbai franchise for the price of INR 2.6 Crore. These two picks will enhance the Mumbai Indians’ middle-order.

Delving into the details of Thakur, he was roped in by the Lucknow Super Giants franchise in the IPL 2025 season as a replacement player for Mohsin Khan, at his base price of INR 2 Crore. In IPL 2025, he played 10 matches, pocketing 13 wickets with the best figures of 4/34.

It’s worth noting that the all-rounder has represented PBKS, RPS, CSK, DC, KKR, and LSG in his 10-year IPL career. However, this will be the first time he steps up into the Mumbai Indians franchise.

Meanwhile, the 27-year-old batting all-rounder Sherfane Rutherford has played 44 T20Is, accumulating 588 runs at an average of 18.37. Speaking about the IPL teams, he has played 23 matches representing the Delhi Capitals (2019), Royal Challengers Bangalore (2022), and Kolkata Knight Riders (2024).

For the unversed, Rutherford was also part of the Mumbai Indians squad in 2020 but did not feature in the final playing XI. Rutherford has amassed 397 runs in 23 IPL games at an average of 24.81 and a strike rate of 137.37. 

In the last IPL season, he played 13 matches racking up 291 runs at an average of 32.33 and a strike rate of 157.30 with 22 fours and 18 sixes. The Mumbai Indians have won the IPL title five times, making them the joint-most successful franchise.

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