The Mumbai Indians made a lot of improvements in the ranks after appointing Hardik Pandya as their captain before the 2024 season of the Indian Premier League. They were on the verge of playing the IPL 2025 final after a disappointing start during the beginning of the tournament. From back-to-back defeats to the Qualifier 2 match of IPL 2025, the five-time IPL champions proved their mettle.

Before last season's mega auction, the MI management held on to their key players like Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma, Tilak Varma, and Pandya. Yadav and Bumrah present stellar performances throughout the season, while the other three players continued in big times.

According to the latest predictions, before the mini auction of IPL 2026, the Mumbai-based franchise can release some of the big names from their squad to generate some more money. Deepak Chahar's future with the Mumbai Indians, as of now, is under scrutiny. The experienced Indian pacer can be dropped ahead of the auction, as per media reports. By releasing Chahar, they can manage to fetch a good amount of money for the auction.

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Should Mumbai Indians let Deepak Chahar go before IPL 2026?

Chahar's move from Chennai Super Kings to Mumbai Indians ahead of IPL 2025 proved ineffective, as he claimed only 11 wickets in 14 matches at an economy rate of 9.17, which was costly for a star cricketer. The Mumbai Indians can also try to find a proper replacement for Jasprit Bumrah.

Bumrah performed well throughout the season, but his recent workload issue can force the management to think in a different way. It was proved that Chahar was not the suitable replacement for Bumrah. They may have to spend some money in rebuilding the overseas pace bowling attack as well. 

List of players Mumbai Indians can release ahead of IPL 2026: 

• AM Ghazanfar (Rs 4.8 crore)

• Deepak Chahar (Rs 9.25 crore)

• Lizaad Williams (Rs 75 Lakh)

• Bevon Jacobs (Rs 30 Lakh)