Mumbai Indians have bolstered their squad by adding Indian all-rounder Shardul Thakur and West Indies batter Sherfane Rutherford ahead of the IPL 2026 auctions.
Thakur, who featured for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in IPL 2025, joins MI through an all-cash trade worth Rs 2 crore, his existing player fee. The 33-year-old had initially gone unsold in the previous auction before being roped in by LSG as an injury replacement for pacer Mohsin Khan.
📰 𝗦𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗗𝗨𝗟 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗞𝗨𝗥 𝗝𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗦 𝗠𝗨𝗠𝗕𝗔𝗜 𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗔𝗡𝗦 𝗔𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗗 𝗢𝗙 𝗜𝗣𝗟 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲
Read more 👉 https://t.co/bwcjR4dDQs pic.twitter.com/NjvmKRA3NZ
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) November 13, 2025
This marks the third trade move in Thakur’s IPL career. He was first traded in 2017 when Rising Pune Supergiant acquired him from Kings XI Punjab and later in 2023 when Kolkata Knight Riders secured his services from Delhi Capitals, both in all-cash deals.
While Thakur started IPL 2025 strongly, claiming six wickets in his first two matches, he struggled for consistency as the season progressed, ending with 13 wickets in 10 games at an economy rate of 11.02.
📰 𝗦𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗔𝗡𝗘 𝗥𝗨𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗗 𝗝𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗦 𝗠𝗨𝗠𝗕𝗔𝗜 𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗔𝗡𝗦
Read more 👉 https://t.co/13g4GNOoRY pic.twitter.com/cKqUu5zlbT
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) November 13, 2025
The explosive Caribbean left-hander was part of Mumbai Indians’ setup in 2020, though he didn’t feature in a single game that season. Since then, he has represented Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, and Gujarat Titans. Rutherford enjoyed a solid run with GT in IPL 2025, scoring 291 runs in 13 innings at a strike rate of 157.29 and an average of 32.22.
As per reports, Mumbai Indians and Lucknow Super Giants have also agreed on a separate trade involving pacer Arjun Tendulkar. The left-arm quick, who has been with MI since 2021, has been released to LSG in search of more regular playing opportunities.
